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The Mystique of the Northwest
Passage
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A brief history, and the issues surrounding the fabled sea-route

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Mr. Walton

dfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfg English 12 Research Essay

11.3.2011

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 “Canada began as an obstacle, blocking the way to the treasures in the east, to be explored

only in the hope of finding passage through it” (Ferguson 47)

In the late fifteenth century, England was expanding its empire and trade routes were

already firmly established in the East Indies. However, the voyage to the land of silk and spices

was long and dangerous, and a new route was in dire need. Jacques Cartier had already dashed

any remaining hopes that the St. Lawrence River might be the elusive passage, so new uncharted

waterways were being navigated feverishly to find the fabled route. After many failures a

breakthrough came when Henry Hudson discovered the bay named in his honour in 1610, but the

passage remained a mystery, and possibly a myth. In 1854 a royally commissioned expedition was

sent out under the veteran captain John Franklin to finally solve the remaining puzzle of the

Northwest Passage (Delgado 107). After several years of silence rescue operations went out in the

dozens to find the lost voyage (113). John Rae, one of the captains, learned from Inuit hunters that

the remainder of the Franklin expedition had been found frozen in the ice north of a makeshift

camp (121). They had cannibalized each other and only fragments remained. Ironically, the

discovery of the Passage came about as a result of the widespread search effort. Robert Mclure

stumbled upon it while in search of Franklin on the west side of the Arctic Archipelago. In the

early years of the search he had entered from the west corridor hypothesizing that Franklin might

have made it through and become stranded on the other side (128). In 1852 Mclure himself became

stranded in the life crushing ice, but realized to his amazement that he was in reach of Winter

Harbour, a sheltered bay that had been reached from the east corridor of the supposed passage

several times before. The Northwest Passage had finally been discovered (133). Franklin’s ship

Discovery had made it within forty miles before it met its icy grave.
 After its discovery, the Northwest Passage was once more forgotten. Ice and treacherous

wind made commercial crossing of the waterway dangerous and inefficient. But in recent times the

conditions exposed through Global Warming are creating quite the stir over the prospect of

commercial shipping through the passage (Boswell 1). Although the future of the Passage seems

bright, environmentalists are on high alert, and international politics are in turmoil over claim of

the passage.

Recent surveys by the Canadian Ice Service indicate that the southern route of the Passage is

now open during the summer (2). Although there is a lack of permanent ice, powerful winds can

push ice flows into narrow straights and doom any vessel today, in the same way the Franklin

expedition was doomed over a century ago. However, this is a risk many shipping companies are

willing to take because the Northwest Passage would shave five thousand miles off the current

route, which crosses the Americas through the Panama Canal (Hayward 5). No matter what the

arguments, environmental and political controversy still outweighs the need to set up permanent

shipping routes through the passage (McRae 1).

The Inuit, And other indigenous peoples of the Arctic, have already suffered under the siege

of industrial development on their lands (Delgado 203). They have been relocated off critical

territories, like their life sustaining hunting grounds, to make way for diamond mines and oil

wells. When do these people gain collective tenure to the land they have inhabited for thousands of

years? Huge oil Tankers smashing through the ice sheets they hunt on will most definitely not

resolve the situation. Although these issues have created tension some resolve was made, at least
with the Inuit, with the creation of Nunavut in 1999 (204). Outside of cultural damage to native

peoples, indigenous species have also felt the effects of climate change (Boswell 2). The ice sheets

are crucial to the existence of the polar bear, who like the Inuit, use it to hunt. The Narwhale is

another example. It is being driven further and further north due to rising ocean temperatures, and

will eventually meet a dead end if the warming trend doesn’t end soon. The situation is bad

enough, and introducing huge ships to break the ice up further and speed up the warming process

will only lead to more environmental damage. An oil spill in the passage would be an enormous

disaster. It would fatally disrupt the highly symbiotic nature of the arctic ecosystem, and would

leave Canada with a huge mess (3). Cleaning this up would be virtually impossible due to the

remote location, therefore Canada has developed a strong policy of claiming the passage as

sovereign territory to prevent shipping, and the possibility of such a disaster in the first place.

Politics have recently taken up a vital role in the future of the Northwest Passage and its

uses (McRae 2). In 1969 Canadian environmentalists were enraged when the US super tanker

Manhattan made a controversial passage through the Northwest route (Hayward 4). This later

prompted the Trudeau Government from instating the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act which

allowed Canada to claim control of waters 161 kilometers offshore. However, in 1985 the US sent

the ice breaker Polar Sea through the passage in direct violation of the act. After the political

skirmish that followed the 1988 Arctic Co-operation Agreement was signed enabling the United

States passage through the waters as long as she had consent from Canada, which through a clause

in the act had to be given by Canada in any case. This left the issue totally unresolved. Because of

recent criticism that Canada is laying claim to a region it does not control, the Canadian

government has set up several programs to justify its claims (McRae 1). Recent evidence of this
came in the Harper government’s campaign in 2005 (Boswell 2). The conservatives promised to

further increase control in the arctic by buying three armed icebreakers to patrol the region,

establish a deep-water port, and set up an arctic warfare training centre (Hayward 4). Although the

port and training centre are being built, the ice breakers have been scaled back to small patrol

boats. Even though Canada has become active in patrolling and developing the arctic, world

trading partners like Europe, Russia, America, and Asia have still found arguments to render

Canada’s claims inept. They claim that shipping is an international activity, and shipping vessels

should not need permission to cross the Northwest Passage (McRae 2). They believe an

international organization like the United Nations should have control of the Passage. In any case,

the sovereignty claims Canada has on the Northwest Passage are not definite, especially when

superpowers like the USA and Russia are in contention against Canada.

Commercial usage of the infamous Northwest Passage is a very real prospect with the

conditions of today and the technology available for navigation. However, environmental

controversy will remain an issue no matter what is done to limit the impact shipping may have on

the eco system, and political mayhem will continue to ensnare the countries at the forefront of this

dilemma, namely Canada (1). But ultimately, the negative changes to the environment mankind

has created are the reason this opportunity, or rather, this controversy has arisen. The passage is

indisputably open for part of the year now, and shipping companies are jumping at the

opportunity. Despite the physical possibility and economic prospect, the question must be asked:

Is it morally and environmentally correct of society to exploit something, when our negative

influence has made it available in the first place?

 Bibliography

Boswell, Randy. “Ice retreat worries climate-change scientists.” Post Media News 6 Aug. 2011. 21 Nov. 2011
<http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/ce/canada>

Bowermaster, John. “Global Warming changing Inuit Lands, Lives, Arctic expedition shows.” National Geographic
News 15 May. 2007. 24 June. 2011 <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/ce/canada>

Delgado, James P. Across the top of the world. Vancouver and Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1999.

Ferguson, Will. Canadian History for Dummies. Mississauga, Ontario: John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd, 2005.

Hayward, Johnathon. “Battle for the Atlantic heats up.” 20 Aug. 2010. CBC News. 24 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.CBC.ca/news/Canada/story/2009/02/27/f-archive-sovereignty.html>

McRae, Donald. “Arctic Sovereignty? What is at stake?” Behind the Headlines 1 Jan. 2007. 21 Nov. 2011.
<http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/ce/canada>