Starcom826 Posted July 30, 2005 Share Posted July 30, 2005 OTTAWA (CP) - The Danish government has offered to reopen formal negotiations with Canada in an effort to resolve the decades-old tug of war over a tiny Arctic island.Both countries have avoided the contentious question for three decades but, as global warming opens up the Arctic to shipping and mining, the Danes say the time is now to settle the ownership rights to Hans Island. "We are communicating," said Poul Erik Dam Kristensen, Denmark's ambassador to Ottawa. "This is just a small irritant that we very much suggest we get aside. "(We'd do it) by having experts from the two sides sit together and resume the consultations we had back in the '70s." The dispute has flared up again this summer and made international news on websites from Britain and the U.S., to Asia. A quick helicopter visit to the barren island by Defence Minister Bill Graham without prior notification to the Danes provoked the latest salvo in the simmering dispute last week. Canadian soldiers also planted a Maple Leaf flag and erected an Inuit stone marker earlier this month. That prompted the Danish government to call in the Canadian ambassador. The outraged Danes sent a protest letter to Ottawa and a senior official in Copenhagen called Graham's visit "an occupation." The Canadian government appeared to shrug off the Danish offer of negotiations. A Foreign Affairs official said Ottawa would examine any formal request but was in no hurry to reopen talks. The Danes say the countries' history of friendly relations should not be subjected to periodic squabbles over a frigid rock barely larger than a football field just south of the North Pole. "We still believe it is a very minor thing," said Kristensen. "But if it is, in between, popping up like it is well then it's getting time to sit down and try to solve it." The countries agreed in 1973 to draw a border halfway between Greenland - a semi-autonomous Danish territory - and Canada's Ellesmere Island. They could not agree on who should claim Hans Island and decided to resolve the issue at some later date. The dispute crept into cyberspace Wednesday using the popular Google website as the battleground. A quick search of "hans island" revealed a paid advertisement with the banner headline: "Hans Island is Greenland. Greenland natives have used the island for centuries." The ad was linked to the Danish government's foreign affairs web page with the letter condemning Graham's visit. The advertisement was not a Danish government initiative and whoever placed it was acting alone, Kristensen said. But that didn't stop one Internet expert - and patriotic Canuck - from striking back. Toronto resident Rick Broadhead placed a Google ad and said the Canadian government needs to get with the times. With Ottawa prepared to spend billions to boost its military presence in the Arctic over the coming years, he said an Internet campaign is a dirt-cheap way to spread Canada's argument. "Eight cents per click - or $200 a month - is money well spent to assert our sovereignty in the North," said Broadhead, who has written extensively about the Internet. "Political battles are not fought solely in the press these days. They're fought on the Internet as well." Broadhead's website includes a fluttering Maple Leaf flag and outlines Canada's traditional argument that Hans Island belonged to the British and became Canada's in 1867. The Danes say it is closer to Greenland than Canada and is therefore Danish soil. The Opposition Conservatives weighed into the debate and said the federal government only has itself to blame if it loses sovereignty over the Arctic. The Tory defence critic said the military was so depleted over the 1990s that Canada can't sustain a strong northern presence. "There is speculation the Danes will once again send an ice-breaking frigate to the island. But how is Canada prepared to match this show of muscle?" Gordon O'Connor said in a statement. "Will it send one of its frigates or aging destroyers, neither of which is capable of effectively operating in arctic climates? "Canada requires a major military investment to back Canada's sovereignty." Ottawa has promised to make arctic patrols a priority and has earmarked $13 billion for military investment over five years. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/07...pf-1149854.html I hadn't known about this before, and did a read on the wikipedia article. From what it sounds like, it seems the Danes actually should posses the island, but I don't really know too much about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scudworth Posted July 30, 2005 Share Posted July 30, 2005 oooh, yes, lovely, our helicopters fall apart in the air, so if you want them taken anywhere, you move them on a truck; and one of the runways is so bad that they had to taxi an F-18 to the nearest base via a freeway, but yeah, lets invest money in patrolling the arctic (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt74441 Posted July 30, 2005 Share Posted July 30, 2005 Ya really. I'm glad that my tax dollars are going towards patrolling a bunch of small islands in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Derf Veteran Posted July 30, 2005 Veteran Share Posted July 30, 2005 The issue is important because "global warming opens up the Arctic to shipping and mining". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scudworth Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 The issue is important because "global warming opens up the Arctic to shipping and mining". 586297377[/snapback] well then that's even worse, thats like justifying the fact that the world is getting screwed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Veteran Posted August 2, 2005 Veteran Share Posted August 2, 2005 well then that's even worse, thats like justifying the fact that the world is getting screwed 586311766[/snapback] A pragmatic approach is not a concession of failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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