Hans Island Dispute and Canadian domestic policyMarcin GabryśJagiellonian University

"Arktyka z perspektywy pierwszej dekady XXI wieku. Między rywalizacją i współpracą".Wrocław, 23-24.11.2012

“The Vikings are back. A thousand years after the Norse colonized Vinland, they're again are staking a claim to Canadian territory. This time, they have not come in traditional longboats but in a modern, ice-strengthened frigate.” Rob Huebert, Globe and Mail, December 28, 2002

Hans Island

1973 Delimitation TreatyThe boundary line is broken on an 857 meter gap between point

122 and 123.

Danish and Canadian Claims•Denmark•In 1917 the US surrended all claims to northern Greenland in exchange for the Danish West indies.

•Hans Island is closer to Greenland than to Ellesmere Island

•connected to Greenland – this view is supported by geological and geomorphological evidence

•Hans Island has been used for centuries by Greenlandic Inuit

Canada•In 1888 Britain transferred rights to the Arctic Archpelago

•a Canadian scientific base located on Hans Island during IIWW

•geomorphological and geological evidence is irrelevant when it comes to an island not undersea shelf

Hans Island

Planting flags

Planting flags•Denmark•1984 – Tom Høyem, Denmark’s minister of Greenlandic Affairs left bottle of aquavit

•1988, 1995, 2002, 2003, and 2004•Canada•1981-83 – Dome Petroleum•2000, 2005•2005 – Bill Graham, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs left bottle of Canadian Club

Truce•Negotiations since September 19, 2005•If the both countries fail to reach an agreement, the governments have agreed to submit the dispute to the International Court of Justice in the Hague

Media•Media attention since late March 2004•Headlines:•“Canada Being Invaded” •“Danes Massing Troops on Canadian Territory” •“[Canada] - the offended nation” •"return of the Vikings"•„the Royal Danish Navy tested Canadian resolve by occupying  Hans Island”

Official response•"this government will not surrender any sovereignty of any of Canada's lands in the Arctic or anywhere else in the world. We are telling Denmark, clearly, Hans Island is Canada's." - Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bill Graham•"Since we think of it as part of Danish territory, we feel officials have that right to visit the island’ - Peter Taksoe-Jensen, head of international public law with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Using the dispute•Canadian politicians seeking electoral advantage•Jingoistic speeches•Annual trips to the Arctic•Plans to strenghten military presence in the North

•"Canada's new government understands that the first principle of Arctic sovereignty is: Use it or lose it".

•US Embassy in Ottawa cables relesed by the WIkileaks: •„Conservatives make concern for ‘The North’ part of their political brand . . . and it works”

•"That the PM's public stance on the Arctic may not reflect his private, perhaps more pragmatic, priorities”

Is Hans Island important?•2 different opinions on a meaning on the settlement of Hans Island dispute:•“the true significance of the issue lies in the manner in which Canada is able to manage its Arctic region in the face of international challenges” (Rob Huebert, University of Calgary)

•„Any resolution of the dispute over the island will not affect the surrounding seabed, which has already been divided by the treaty. Nor will it have any consequence for the surrounding waters, since the same line has been used by both countries to define their fishing zones” (Michael Byers, University of British Columbia)

Attitude of Canadians•42% of Canadians want their government to “pursue a firm line” in defending the Arctic •10% of Americans •5% of Danes.

•majority of Canadians see Arctic sovereignty as the country's top foreign-policy priority;

•military resources should be shifted to the North, even if it means taking them away from global conflicts•Scandinavian nations are favoured more as negotiation partners than Canada

Possible Solutions3 options how Canada could pursue its claim to Hans Island: 1.assert a claim unilaterally2.bring the case before the International Court of Justice

3.Direct negotiations with Danes and/or multilateral negotiations

Question of timing•Possible outcomes:•Transfer rights to the island to one of the countries

•Splitting the island, Condominium•April 2012 – Have the negotiatiors reached an agreement?•Releasing the information •Timing the most important problem•Reaction of the public•Nationalistic atmosphere•2013?