The region is coveted by the U.S., Russia and China
The Arctic is no longer a distant place of cold and danger, visited by few but mythologized by many. It is a vital front in the world of modern geopolitics and a prize that major world powers now hunger for.
Canada has one option and that is to build an Arctic empire and fully integrate the region into the country. The resources, land, and strategic importance of the vast area cannot be passively surrendered without an effort to secure it for Canada.
China, Russia, and now the United States are all vying for the Arctic’s massive, largely untapped wealth and northern waterways. Canada has to be ready for the cost and monumental effort of keeping it Canadian. There is precedent for this and skeptics of asserting true Canadian sovereignty in the north on the basis of money or business-sense should learn from history.
For the rest of this column: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/geoff-russ-canada-needs-an-arctic-empire-no-matter-the-cost