Canadian Arctic sovereignty not under threat: professor
Posted Jan 9, 2015 06:43:20 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
While the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine continues to escalate, one expert says Canadians shouldn’t be worried about the Arctic.
University of British Columbia Professor Dr. Michael Byers just returned from a teaching post in Siberia.
He tells City News, actual aggression towards Canada from Russia seems unlikely.
“They’re not actually seeking to invade or conquer any further territory. You might remember back in December, Demark claimed the North Pole. Russia said that’s totally fine, this is an issue that will be determined on the issue of science, we’re going to file our own claim,” he said.
Byers says the Arctic is an incredibly expensive place to operate: there are just 200 Canadian soldiers stationed in the Arctic, even though it makes up 40 per cent of our territory.