Our private riverboat, the Da Vinci caters to just 90 Canadian guests and will have you exploring Europe while cruising under the Canadian Flag.
can bring jobs and money in support of, for instance, artists who live and work in the North. I’m much more skeptical of large-scale tourism and worry about the prospect of cruise ships with 3,000 passengers descending upon small communities in Canada’s Arctic. I see that as a real and growing challenge that isn’t currently being addressed.
On the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as a framework for managing Arctic waters
Canada played a huge role in drafting this convention, and we did so with incredible foresight, because it’s always easier to negotiate an agreement before the issues become salient and controversial. The convention does a lot of work helping to avoid conflict over maritime zones such as the Arctic. It has an article on pollution prevention jurisdiction in ice-covered waters. It provides pretty clear guidance on how coastal states can manage foreign shipping. It even has an entire section on the regulation of deep seabed mining. It’s not going to address all the issues — it’s not going to solve the problem of the living conditions of northern Indigenous peoples, it’s not going to solve climate change — but it can address the maritime ones.
On how Canada can address Arctic issues in the time of Trump
I don’t think we’re going to see much constructive diplomacy on Arctic issues involving the United States for the next four years. Canada has a choice; it either acquiesces and hopes for the best, or it stands up, not in opposition to the United States but as an independent, influential country, and shows leadership working with other countries on the things that need to be done. Arctic issues are only growing in importance because of the acceleration of climate change, and Canada can’t sit back on those issues. We have to act, and we have to lead.