OTTAWA - The Canadian Coast Guard needs better icebreakers, tougher regulations and more Inuit involvement to safeguard the country's interests in the slowly opening Arctic seas, says a newly released Senate report.
The report, released Monday, recommends that all ships entering Arctic waters claimed by Canada should be obliged to tell NORDREG, a registry maintained by the coast guard to monitor who's sailing through the Arctic. Registering is currently voluntary.
"To show that we control the water and that these are Canadian waters, to assert our sovereignty, every ship should report and NORDREG is the tool to do it," said New Brunswick Liberal Senator Fernand Robichaud.
Canada should also implement regulations on the construction, manning and equipping of all vessels in the Arctic, the report said.
The standing committee on fisheries and oceans also said Canada needs go-anywhere, any time icebreakers. Although that echoes a $720-million promise made in the Conservative government's last budget, Canada needs more than one, said Robichaud.
"We expect a lot more traffic is going to happen up there," said Robichaud. "Right now, I don't think we have the capacity.
"The government should have a long-term program of shipbuilding icebreakers."
Ottawa shouldn't ignore the people who actually live in the Arctic either, the report says.
More Inuit should be recruited for the coast guard to take advantage of their unique local knowledge. As well, the government should implement a plan that has been languishing before the federal cabinet for years to build a series of small-craft harbours in Nunavut.
"We believe (Nunavumiut) have not received their proper due with regard to facilities."
One Arctic expert praised the report, saying making NORDREG mandatory is "excellent idea."
"We've never had the political courage to stand by our convictions," said Rob Huebert of the University of Calgary's Centre for Military and Strategic Studies.
While Canada has strong Arctic environmental legislation, foreign ships have never been required to tell coast guard officials that they're sailing through the waters it protects.
"If you're passing a law like the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, you're saying here's an indication of our sovereignty over the Northwest Passage," said Huebert. "Well, make the damn thing mandatory."
With new technology such as Radarsat-2 keeping watch, Canada can now see for itself who's cruising the Arctic seas, said Robichaud.
Huebert also praised the emphasis on working with northerners.
He said the army already provides a model for working with Inuit communities with the Rangers, small detachments of reservists throughout the North that act as the military's eyes and ears.
New harbours would also enhance Canadian Arctic sovereignty, Huebert said. Harbours are gates, and those who control the gates get to make the rules.
"You've got to build the right gates," he said. "But if you build it, you control it."
