43 That Ice Is Mine 1909

It is only 1.3 square kilometres in area and no one lives there. Nothing grows on it and it is 193 kilometres away from the nearest people. Both Denmark and Canada want it though and both countries say it is theirs.

Hans Island sits right in the middle of the border between Canada and Denmark. Neither country wants to divide it in half. Neither country wants the border to move farther onto their land so that the other country can own all of the island. Hans Island is one cause of arguments about who owns what in the Arctic. The Hans Island argument is friendly for now. When the Danish went to the island, they left a bottle of Schnapps for the Canadians to find. Schnapps is an alcoholic drink made in Denmark. When the Canadians found it, they left a bottle of Canadian Club and a sign saying, “Welcome to Canada.”

But Arctic Sovereignty is no joke to the countries who say they own some parts of it. Canada, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Russia all say parts of the Arctic waters belong to their country. The Americans and Europeans say the Arctic waters are international ones and no country can own them.

Arctic Sovereignty is very important to Canada. Nearly half of the country sits in the north near, or in, the Arctic. Canada has 162,000 kilometres of Arctic coastline. It is important that this area is said to be a part of Canada, not international. Joseph- Elzéar Bernier thought this was important too. He thought it was so important that he spent most of his life claiming the Arctic for Canada.

Joseph was a French-Canadian and one of Canada's greatest sea explorers. His father was a sea captain. He took Joseph to sea with him when Joseph was only two years old. By the time Joseph turned 17, he had his own ship to captain. Joseph was the youngest captain in the world.

Joseph was interested in the Arctic. No one had decided who owned it in the late 1800's when Joseph began sailing his ships. The British government gave all of its rights to anything it owned in the Arctic to Canada and then left the area. The Americans were looking around Ellesmere Island. The Norwegians were starting to claim islands in the north by saying they were the first people to walk on them. Joseph wanted to go to the Arctic to claim it for Canada, but the government would not give him any money to explore.

Then, in 1903, the Americans and Canadians were making a boundary between Alaska in the USA and British Columbia in Canada(see 1888).They had an argument about one long strip of land which was finally given to the Americans. After that, the Prime Minister of Canada agreed to give Joseph money to go to the Arctic in his ship.

Joseph spent one year travelling in the Arctic and claiming the islands there for Canada. He sailed to each and every island and did the same thing on all of them. Joseph, or one of his sailors, walked onto the island and found a high hill. They placed a metal box on the hill. Inside the box was a paper that said the island was claimed for Canada. They covered the box with many stones to keep it safe. They placed a pole in the ground and flew the Canadian flag on it. Then they continued on to the next island.

When winter started, Joseph had just two islands left to visit-Banks and Victoria. Joseph made a winter home on Melville Island and sent some of his men to claim the last two islands. It was very, very cold. The men had to walk on ice, in snow storms. They got snow blindness from the sun that was shining on the snow. They did not have enough food to eat and they started to starve. The men made it to Banks Island and left their box and flag. They had to go back to the ship at Melville Island before getting to Victoria Island, though. They were dying of hunger. However, the Canadian government had told Joseph to claim every island for Canada. When the men returned, Joseph had to send them back one more time to get to Victoria Island with their note and their flag. Luckily, they were successful the second time.

JOSEPH- ELZÉAR BERNIER SPENT HIS LIFE CLAIMING THE ARCTIC AS CANADIAN TERRITORY

On July 1, 1909, Joseph and all his men placed a sign on Melville Island. It said that Canada had claimed all of the Arctic islands. It said that Canada now owned everything from the Yukon to Baffin Island, all the way to the North Pole. To make sure that no one tried to take the islands away from Canada, the North-West Mounted Police(see 1873)were sent to live there and keep the islands safe for Canada.

Norway left the Arctic, agreeing that Canada owned it, but the USA has not yet agreed. In 1969, the Americans sent a ship through The Northwest Passage without asking Canada first. They said the waters were international and they did not have to ask. They did it again 20 years later and caused a lot of bad feelings with the Canadians.

The North Pole seems to be one place that no country wants to give to Canada. Everyone feels emotional about it. It is where Santa Claus lives. It is the very top of the whole world. There are a lot of natural resources there. It has not yet been agreed that Canada owns the North Pole. Other countries are still trying to claim it. In 2007, Russia placed a flag there to try to claim the North Pole as theirs, but the United Nations will have to decide who owns it.

The North Pole and Hans Island are the only two places that Canada cannot yet say they own in the Arctic. In all other places, Canada has Sovereignty. That gives Canada the right to make decisions about the environment, the life of native people, the use of natural resources and more. Canada's decisions about these things will be very important to all future, international activities in the north.