Canada announced plans Monday to increase its military presence in the Arctic in an effort to assert its sovereignty over the Northwest Passage sea route, which the U.S. insists does not belong to Canada, according to AP. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said six to eight new patrol ships will be built to guard what he says are Canada's waters. «Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty over the Arctic. We either use it or lose it. And make no mistake, this Government intends to use it,» Harper said. U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins has criticized Harper's promise to defend the Arctic, claiming the Northwest Passage as «neutral waters.» The disputed route runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Arctic archipelago. While Canadians have long claimed the waters as their own, Ottawa has generally turned a blind eye to the United States, whose navy has sent vessels and submarines through what it considers an international strait. As global warming melts the passage _ which is only navigable during a slim window in the summer _ the waters are exposing unexplored resources, and becoming an attractive shipping route. Commercial ships can shave off some 4,000 kilometers (2,480 miles) from Europe to Asia compared with the current routes through the Panama Canal. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Arctic has as much as 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas. «The ongoing discovery of the north's resource riches coupled with the potential impact of climate change has made the region a growing area of interest and concern,» Harper said. He said a deep water port will also be built. Harper did not name the location of the new port but said it will serve as an operating base for the naval ships and will also be used for commercial purposes. Canada also wants to assert its claim over Hans Island, which is at the entrance to the Northwest Passage. The half-square mile (1.3 sq. kilometer) rock, just one-seventh the size of New York's Central Park, is wedged between Canada's Ellesmere Island and Danish-ruled Greenland, and for more than 20 years has been a subject of unusually bitter exchanges between the two NATO allies.
