Arctic Oil and Our Canada Loving PM
Is this our Canada loving Prime Minister defending our territory or is this merely him joining the Bush/Cheney et al. project to dominate the world’s oil supply?
Imagine Arctic oil fields patrolled by Canadian ships (with maybe American helicopters a la Afghanistan) and a pipeline through Canada from an Arctic port to the US, but a pipeline controlled by Security and Prosperity Partnership regulations making all the land it passes through effectively controlled by the US and a submissive Canada. They are putting the pieces in place:
1. June 29 CTV reports that Russia’s explorations in the Arctic have discovered up to 10 billion cubic metres of hydrocarbons and that Russia is or will be claiming “wide swaths of undersea Arctic territory”.
2. July 9 CTV reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has confirmed that Ottawa will invest in new patrol ships and a deepwater port to protect Canada's arctic waters.”
3. In a June 2007 press release the Whitehouse announces that “President Bush will travel to Montebello, Quebec, Canada to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and President Felipe Calderon of Mexico at the North American Leaders' Summit on August 20-21, 2007. The leaders will review progress and continued cooperation under the Security and Prosperity Partnership, as well as discuss hemispheric and global issues.”
4. After the previous meeting of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, President Bush, President Fox, and Prime Minister Harper highlighted the accomplishments at their trilateral meeting in Cancun on March 31, 2006, one of which being:
“The United States and Canada signed an agreement, which is a milestone in pipeline regulatory cooperation, to allow increased compliance data sharing, staff exchanges and joint training. The sharing of best practices will lead to a more uniform regulatory approach for cross border pipelines.”
5. And don't forget Mr. Prentice working dillgently to get those pipeline First Nations out of the way.
Imagine Arctic oil fields patrolled by Canadian ships (with maybe American helicopters a la Afghanistan) and a pipeline through Canada from an Arctic port to the US, but a pipeline controlled by Security and Prosperity Partnership regulations making all the land it passes through effectively controlled by the US and a submissive Canada. They are putting the pieces in place:
1. June 29 CTV reports that Russia’s explorations in the Arctic have discovered up to 10 billion cubic metres of hydrocarbons and that Russia is or will be claiming “wide swaths of undersea Arctic territory”.
2. July 9 CTV reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has confirmed that Ottawa will invest in new patrol ships and a deepwater port to protect Canada's arctic waters.”
3. In a June 2007 press release the Whitehouse announces that “President Bush will travel to Montebello, Quebec, Canada to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and President Felipe Calderon of Mexico at the North American Leaders' Summit on August 20-21, 2007. The leaders will review progress and continued cooperation under the Security and Prosperity Partnership, as well as discuss hemispheric and global issues.”
4. After the previous meeting of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, President Bush, President Fox, and Prime Minister Harper highlighted the accomplishments at their trilateral meeting in Cancun on March 31, 2006, one of which being:
“The United States and Canada signed an agreement, which is a milestone in pipeline regulatory cooperation, to allow increased compliance data sharing, staff exchanges and joint training. The sharing of best practices will lead to a more uniform regulatory approach for cross border pipelines.”
5. And don't forget Mr. Prentice working dillgently to get those pipeline First Nations out of the way.
posted by Susan at 8:40 AM
3 Comments:
Isn't about time we started negotiating common interests/borders with Russia...just to keep a balance on the sovereignty thing?
I do not know that Harper's statements July 9 should be taken as intent to do anything real. There is no hint in the budget of all this shipbuilding for the North, just the $5.3 billion for Canada defence "plan" and $326 million for 6 non arctic patrol vessels and fish science boats. Now it is up to 8 billion or so for a sort of almost Icebreakers? Class 5 vessels are near the bottom of the ones you can classify as Arctic Class and would not be much use in heavy ice, and what do they do if they are frozen in this magical deep water port. What will be happening in that, prey? Is it really a port or a vague idea to use some dock space and refueling lines for Arctic patrol ships. Oh yes, will they replace "in use" the two similar vessels the Americans recently decommissioned. Are they just a sort of gesture towards the Yanks.And if this refueling set up is ice bound what then with your class 5 ships that are frozen out, or maybe frozen in.
What is needed for sure is one pretty big ice breaker, about $800 mill or a bit more depending on what technological gee whizzery is put into it.
What we get is a press statement about 8, count them Arctic patrol , plus an earlier 6 non arctic patrol, that is 14 ships and a "deep water" port in the far North(does that mean a port that is ice free or not and if not who or what will take out the ice).
All this stuff would have the industry humming from coast to coast. They are not even announcing a design approach and they are years away from an RFP so why is Harper talking about the "construction" of ships?
I would like to see ships for the Arctic but I think this is more Harper lies. The only reality, I am afraid, is no ice breaker which is something that is truly needed. Bad Harper lies.
Re:gary mh
All Harper has to do is continue Canada's inaction on the Kyoto Accord and climate change (George W.'s euphemism for global warming) will work its magic on the arctic ice - then we could just re-commission the RCMP St. Roch for Arctic patrols!
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