Arctic sovereignty is just the beginning.

• Author: Lannan, Brian
• Position: Feature Report on Nunavut

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The 1993 Nunavut Act defines the territorial boundaries of Nunavut as (s. 3):

(a) all that part of Canada north of the sixtieth parallel of north latitude and east of the boundary described in Schedule 1 that is not within Quebec or Newfoundland; and

(b) the islands in Hudson Bay, James Bay and Ungava Bay that are not within Manitoba, Ontario or Quebec.

Schedule 1 sets out the Western boundary of Nunavut, concluding with "thence North along 110[degrees]00'W longitude to its intersection with the northern limits of Canada...."

The resolution of many of the issues included under the broad rubric of "sovereignty" will play out within, and in some aspects define, or redefine, this area. Nunavut is thus of great strategic significance to Canada, and in some respects, remains a dynamic concept, not yet fully in focus. It appears that focus may sharpen rapidly, in step with the retreat of the Arctic pack ice.

Nunavut does not have a monopoly as the situs of Canadian Arctic sovereignty issues. Not all of the Canadian Arctic archipelago is within Nunavut (although Canada's entitlement to the archipelago is now unchallenged, and that has been the case for some length of time, likely since circa 1930). In addition, not all of the waters within the archipelago are within Nunavut. The westerly sectors of the Northwest Passage (or, perhaps more accurately, the several variants) are outside Nunavut territorial limits.

Issues of claims for extended continental shelves are not confined to Nunavut. And, finalization of the delimitation between Canada and the United States in the Beaufort Sea will not directly impact areas within Nunavut. While many of the Canadian Arctic sovereignty issues extend beyond Nunavut territorial limits, this brief discussion will focus on the Nunavut scenario, and on the Nunavut perspective. It will outline the issues very broadly, and avoid speculation on the eventual terms of resolution.

The Canadian Arctic issue presently having greatest prominence is the extended continental shelf. In 2003, Canada ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereafter referred to by the consensus, if somewhat inelegant, acronym "UNCLOS"). Of the four other nations having Arctic Ocean coastline, three others: Russia; Denmark/ Greenland; and Norway, have also ratified. Only the United States has not, but it is generally expected that it will. UNCLOS allocates rights for the purpose of exploration for and...