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The move was met with “regret” by the Government of Canada, with Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon quickly stating, “Canada will take all measures to defend and protect its rights with respect to its continental shelf.”
University of Victoria law professor and expert in maritime boundaries Ted McDorman characterizes France’s move as “an irritant… It’s now something the Government of Canada needs to address in some way.”
Thus far, both Canada and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador are lending the claim no credence or weight, referencing the 1992 arbitration decision that determined the current jurisdiction as final.
Turning attention to the Arctic, McDorman points out there have been overlapping claims to the continental shelf between Canada and the U.S. for years. “But the mere fact there is a dispute doesn’t mean there is a conflict,” he says. “We still manage to get along pretty well.”
“There is a false impression in the media, an emphasis on the idea that there is a great scramble and countries are exceeding their rights… nevertheless, it’s quite right (each country is) making sure it has the full extent of its rights.”
As the northern surveys continue, excitement in Atlantic Canada is growing. Between talk of an Arctic gateway being established in the region to the application of ice and cold-water technology developed in St. John’s, the far north could be where the east coast truly shines.
“Three years ago, until about a year ago, interest in the Arctic was hotter and more crazy than it had ever been in the ’80s,” says Claude Daley, an Arctic engineer, private consultant and engineering professor at Memorial University. The recession has cooled the frenzy slightly, but Daley predicts the chill won’t last long.XX “If there’s billions of dollars in untapped resources off Labrador, there are trillions in the whole Arctic. That prize is so amazingly big.” Most of the major oil companies at play in Canada – including Imperial Oil, ExxonMobile, ConocoPhillips, BP and Chevron – have bid on, and been awarded, rights to explore specific areas of the Canadian Arctic in the past few years.
“The big oil companies are going to put the projects back on the front burners; when they do that there’s going to be more opportunity for us than we can shake a stick at,” Daley says. “In many ways, St. John’s can be a feeder or technology gateway to the Arctic. What we do in the world of ocean engineers and in terms of naval architecture has made us world-class players. Those people who want the expertise, who will pay for the expertise, they know about St. John’s.”
His words are echoed by Mark Shrimpton of Jacques Whitford Stantec, also based in St. John’s. “First of all, we have a lot of relevant experience dealing with things like ice,” Shrimpton says. “And we understand places like these (northern) places. We’re concerned about our environment; we understand where they are coming from, how they’re positioned. I’ve spent time in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, for example… we’re all from challenging, rather peripheral societies. We all got on very well. It’s a real business advantage.”
“Of course, it won’t buy you anything if you don’t know how to deal with an iceberg or how to conduct seismic testing around whales.”
