The Need to Defend Our New Northwest Passage - The Tyee

[Editor’s note: Stephen Harper stood ground against the U.S in his first news conference as prime minister-elect. At issue: Harper’s vow to deploy military icebreakers to monitor and defend our northern arctic waters. The day before, U.S. ambassador to Canada David Wilkins had opposed the plan, stating, “There’s no reason to create a problem that doesn’t exist.” Harper’s response on Friday: “The United States defends its sovereignty and the Canadian government will defend our sovereignty. It is the Canadian people we get our mandate from, not the ambassador of the United States.” At stake is …