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The Canadian government has presented a ten-year strategic plan for the Arctic that involves a greater military presence.
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– The Arctic is attracting growing international interest, says the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a strategic document published Tuesday.
Government and non-governmental actors are helping to increase competition in the Arctic, the document says. These actors want to take advantage of the strategic location of the region and the vast natural resources of the Arctic.
An important objective of the government is to strengthen Canada’s military presence in the Arctic and Northern regions. The country will continue to exercise sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, which the United States and many other countries consider international waters.
The Trudeau government emphasizes that climate change and new technologies have made the Arctic more accessible. Shipping traffic crossing the Canadian part of the Arctic increased in 2017 by 22 percent compared to the previous year.
2017 was also the year a foreign cruise ship crossed the entire Northwest Passage for the first time.
Climate change is occurring more rapidly in the Arctic than in other regions of the world, and sea ice is gradually shrinking due to global warming.
Among other things, melting ice makes it easier to extract oil from Arctic sea areas, which in turn contributes to an increase in climate emissions when oil is burned. In Norway, the government has chosen to open new areas for oil drilling in the Barents Sea.
