Canada

"Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty over the arctic. We either use it or lose it. And make no mistake, this government intends to use it."

Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada (Conservative)

As regular readers of this blog know I have traveled to Canada for client projects and of course I love the Canadian Football League!! So when I see a newspaper headline like this one -- "Canada to add more troops in Northwest Passage" -- it catches my attention.

The Associated Press article mentioned above is focused on the "benefits of global warming" (my phrasing not the AP's) specifically the new shipping routes that are opening in the Northwest Passage which Canada believes lies in its territory. Canada has mobilized "6 to 8 patrol boats" and intends to build a deep water port in this area to lay further credibility to its sovereignty claims. Why? Two reasons are cited:

1.) Commercial ships traveling via the Northwest Passage could reduce their mileage from Europe to Asia by 2,480 miles versus going through the Panama Canal, and

2.) The Northwest Passage area reportedly has nearly 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves according to the US Geological Survey.

Now I love the Canadians and don't blame them for making this move but international opinion seems to be against them in terms of territorial claims. But let's sort this out a little via this chain of events:

• global warming is said to come from the burning of fossil fuels (oil and gas of course)
• global warming is blamed for the melting of the polar (Arctic included) ice caps
• as the Arctic melts the Northwest Passage opens up thus providing access to even MORE fossil fuels which we could then consume thereby causing even more global warming
• historically the USA was declared the largest producer of CO2 emissions that cause global warming but now it appears China has outpaced the USA for this distinction

Perhaps the American consumers should expect a "thank you/merci" from the Canadians since our way of life apparently caused the majority of global warming in the world today which has melted the ice in the Northwest Passage thereby creating new oil and gas production opportunities for Canadians!!!

Perhaps film maker, Michael Moore, was right in his 1995 film - "Canadian Bacon" -- that the USA should prepare for war against Canada :-)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109370/ -- overview of Canadian Bacon

Todd