Who’s Been Playing In Our Water?
The Canadian military is sending a long-range Aurora aircraft to investigate reports of a mysterious explosion along Canada’s Northwest Passage that may have killed several whales.
The drama apparently began in the early-morning hours of July 31, when an Inuit hunting party at an outpost camp at Borden Peninsula on northeastern Baffin Island was alerted to the sound of an explosion, followed by a cloud of black smoke.
[ ..... ]
Unusual activity has been reported in the Borden Peninsula region before, according to a DND briefing report. Last summer, for example, several unusual and unidentified objects were seen in the water in the same area.
This past winter, a spectacular meteorite that swept across the sky lit up the radio waves with talk of UFOs.
Foreign submarines have also been sighted in Canadian Arctic waters over the past decade. No one will speculate on whether a submarine might be involved in this mystery blast.
[ link ]
For as long as I can remember hunters on the north and north-western coast of Baffin Island have sighted odd things in the water and/or breaking through the ice. In the past they were usually discounted by the government with vague ‘we don’t know, you must be mistaken, maybe it was a whale, there was no traffic there‘ lines…. to believe that nonsense you’d have to be wiling to believe that life long subsistence hunters don’t know the difference between a submarine and supper, but it was convenient for our previous government who (I believe) had lost complete control (and possibly even interest) over/in who was taking runs through the passage.
The simple fact is that climate change is making the Northwest Passage look very attractive for Arctic resource exploitation, and we’re only going to see more and more of this sort of thing as it unrolls and becomes navigable for longer and longer periods of time each year – and we are unprepared on every level for that.
It remains to be seen whether or not our Nu Government will take a different approach, and whether or not they are, or will become, interested….. based on the response of
All we have is a report that an explosion occurred. It may be something or it could be nothing at all.
I am not encouraged.
Not encouraged? Why would a key player in the international stage go around blaming other nations for something like this when they obviously don’t have 100% of the information yet? Why point fingers? They didn’t, and instead they are apparently stupid/incompetant for saying “you know what? We really don’t know yet.”
Not to mention the millions of dollars the Conservatives have pumped into having a strong military presence up in the Arctic region (new icebreakers, etc.).
FL
There’s two main reasons why they are stupid/incompetant for saying what they said:
1) They are (further) alienating their best resource for control of the arctic, the Inuit, by prejudging and possibly discounting an eyewitness account of an important event, that should be taken seriously.
2) they sound like uneducated hicks by saying “it may be something or it may be nothing.” That’s a binary statement, adds absolutely nothing to the discussion, and sounds wishy washy on the international stage. A much more intelligent thing to say would be “We cannot comment until we have all the information/until our investigation is complete.” Means the same thing, but it sounds professional, not asinine. What it truly means, however is “We do not care and are doing nothing, now bugger off!” The point of SL’s post is that we (southern-type Canadians) should be worried about stuff like this, because it could impact our nation’s sovereignty, resource development, and most importantly, our northern culture.
Looking at a more reliable source than canada.com…This is the what National Post had to quote (link: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=707628):
“In a preliminary investigation, DND’s Joint Task Force Northern headquarters determined there were no known vessels operating in the area, and it did not know of any activity that could have caused an explosion.
“At this point, we really have very little else to report,” says Summer Halliday, a spokeswoman for the Joint Task Force in Yellowknife.
“But we will be sending an Aurora aircraft to do a flyover. The plane is currently up north in the Mackenzie Valley on a routine exercise supporting the RCMP’s Operation Nunakput.”
Note the Joint Task Force. Canada’s special ops. The really cool James Bond-style-kick-you-in-the-face guys. They are up there right now protecting our sovereignty. Now, I absolutely agree with the post and with you that our North needs to be protected. The point of this post may be in fact to “worry” us in the south…but calling the government stupid because you don’t have Harper strapping on the ol’ boots and checking it out himself and then releasing a statement is unnecessary.
Another quote:
“Until we hear from Parks Canada and the military, there’s nothing we can confirm or deny,” says Keith Pelley, a Fisheries and Oceans Canada official based in Nunavut.
“All we have is a report that an explosion occurred. It may be something or it could be nothing at all. Right now, we just don’t know.”
AKA – we can’t blame anyone yet. Please don’t make assumptions without all the evidence. And come to think of it, that’s the same strategy our leaders are employing right now.
The new ice breakers may, or may not, ever put in an appearance FutureLeader. As of July 2007 the 2006 election campaign promises of ice breakers was reduced to “Arctic patrol vessels” with medium ice capabilities, as of July 2008 those patrol vessels are still in the “planning” stage, and I have seen rumours here and there about even scaling those back to lighter still vessels.
The deep water port in Nanisivik is a start…. or it will be, as soon as they start it.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because Harper said something that it’s really any different from Paul Martin or Jean Jean Chrétien saying something and that whatever he said is actually going to happen – he’s broken his campaign promises as well hasn’t he?
My thoughts with respect to “it may be something or it may be nothing” are … well DOH…. do ya figure?
If people heard an explosion, saw smoke, and witnessed dead whales, how could it possibly be “nothing“?
@stageleft – You have to understand that the Conservatives here aren’t breaking any promises. Each PM brings about changes that will affect other PMs later on. Chretien was notorious for his cutting of massive amounts of the defense department’s spending budget. Obviously, that was years ago. When the Navy’s frigate program ended in the mid-1990s, the very skilled shipyard workforces that had built the Halifax-class ships broke up and scattered. So now that the Canada First program has been approved and spending in the budget is secured, we have as of last year begun a new major naval program. Thus, the skilled trades need to be recruited, undergo training, and then be put to work. This isn’t an overnight process. It takes years, as most of these ships won’t be ready for a few years. Who was in power before Harper and the Conservatives? The grits. Harper didn’t promise new frigates overnight. He has initiated a long process that will greatly benefit Canada in the long-run.
In regards to scaling back these vessels to mid-range, with steel prices sent soaring with regards to inflation, as well as oil prices doubling for the navy to put to sea since the plan was first mulled over the costs are astronomical. Not to mention the price of electronics and skilled labour. Since we are on a budget, it’s common sense that in order to stay under the budget cap you need to make sacrifices.
And FL, just so you know, your beloved national post is affiliated with canada.com. They’re both owned by CanWest – canada.com is the global television internet presence, and the National Post is their flagship print paper.
Welcome to media concentration, mein freund
Stageleft wrote: “climate change is making the Northwest Passage look very attractive for Arctic resource exploitation, and we’re only going to see more and more of this sort of thing as it unrolls and becomes navigable for longer and longer periods of time each year”
Didn’t you get the memo dude? Global warmi… I mean climate change has been put off for at least a decade. We’ve decided to pay attention to the science instead of the hype.
I read a lot of blogs, from all different points of view. The funny reads are always the ones that knee jerk react in opposition to anything that Harper does. It’s almost as funny as watching CSPAN.
Since you like conspiracies, perhaps the report of an explosion was made in an effort to divert resources from the RCMP’s Operation Nunakput.
There’s always good reasons why the party in power does not follow through on campaign promises, and partisans from every party are usually more than willing to follow through with rationalizations and justifications to back them up — most usually those include rationalizations and justifications that talk about “the other guys” being mostly responsible for the failure….. your reply is but one example.
The Chrétien/Martin Liberal governments did it for years (and years) and their partisan supporters backed them to the hilt, now it’s Harper and the Conservative partisans turn…. as I’ve said so many times before, the only difference is the colour of their ties.
@jonZor – Thank you for saving the day Captain Obvious
Haha no seriously though, I realize canada.com is the parent company’s site but the National Post is a respected publication compared to canada.com which is simply an aggregator. Plus, they didn’t have all the quotes I was looking for
Just went to find the article in the GlobeandMail but couldn’t find anything about the issue? Granted I only looked for 5 minutes, but I simply wanted to appease you lefties with one of your own
@stageleft – “responsible for the failure” – what failure???
I explained in great detail why it appeared that the promise had not been acted upon – because it takes time to start a new naval program of this size.
I wasn’t going around pointing fingers at the “other guys” for why it is taking long… but you must agree that given Chretien cut defense spending which led to our navy being able to perform on a smaller scale, that to restart takes longer than it would have if we still had the skilled workforce to build the Halifax class ships.
And you know what? I actually have about 0.00001% of love for Chretien in my heart. Why, you may ask? Well he introduced the campaign funding reforms that have ultimately crippled the Liberals ability to pay for….well…..anything.
Seismic exploration? Somebody doing a little premature prospecting?
Many years ago, a top Canadian general told me about an underwater weapons system called “Cyclops” that was supposedly deployed up there. As I recall these were autonomous seabed devices that coupled passive sonar to homing torpedoes. The acoustic signature of hostile subs could be periodically transmitted to these units which, in the event of war, would be activated and would then fire on any passing target matching the hostile signatures. Try to find any reference to the system even today and you’ll come up with zip.
“…the National Post is a respected publication” Say what? It’s so respected that it’s awash in red ink. The National Spot is a rag, the house organ of the far right in Canada. Sheesh.
MoS
I agree that the NatPost is a rag, but it is Canada’s 2nd newspaper, so give it is due. Its also fairly centrist, as are most of the large papers/new outlets in Canada. Its friggen Canada! The Post is right of centre, the globe is less right of centre, maybe centrist, the star, a bit left of centre (maybe?). Global, CTV, CBC, same order as above, maybe. WHo knows they’re all centrist. Since the left thinks they’re too awash in the evil capatilist agenda, and the right thinks they’re the work of Communist china, well, hell, that means they’re centrist.
FL – are you mad? The Globe and Mail a vehicle for the left? I hope that’s your rather sophomoric attempt at humor. When I was growing up, I thought the Globe was to the right of Attilla the Hun. With some perspective brought by years, and competition from the Post, its become as centrist as you’ll find in Canada. The Globe and Mail for the lefties? No, its the national paper for intelligent people. The National POst, on the other hand… (except for Coyne, I like his writing)
This country is in for a big wake up call when the Russians decide an arbritrary line on a map doesn’t mean jack squat to them when there are billions of dollars at stake.
You think that Russia is the only country we’ve got to worry about?
Since Russia has the worse record for getting along with their direct neighbours, yes. Those Danes can be pricks too.
I think that in addition to Russia you should cast your eyes south of the border nastyboy….. they have not ratified the LOTS and need water and energy in the worst sort of way.
The National Post is actually the ONLY major Canadian publication that writes good things about the Conservative Party.
All the others (Globe is probably the most bi-partisan of them all) like the blood-red-Liberal-loving Star favor more towards the Liberals than anything.
It is ignorant to call it a rag.
Alright, it’s a tabloid then.
This news of an explosion freaks me out.
I have inlaws on the coast of Baffin Island, and dad-in-law has seen many a periscope popping up in the middle of nowhere while he’s out hunting.
There’s no question the arctic will become the most vital strategic geographical region over the next 20 years. Unfortunately, with all of the myriad of problems affecting arctic communities, we the people who live there are worfully unprepared for the consequences of our future. Between the Americans, the Russians, and yes even southern Canadians showing extreme interest in our resources, irrespective of us, we are at a point where we have to get our own house in order if we expect to play a meaningful role in the future of Our Land.