PM politicizing Franklin ‘mystery’

Re Dissecting ancient clues in Arctic mystery,

Sept. 8 The Star announced that the first evidence of the Franklin expedition has been found and the mystery was on the verge of being solved. However this statement is inaccurate.

Yes a wreck has been found, but it is not the first evidence. Nor is there a huge mystery. It’s been known for over 150 years that the expedition began to succumb to poisoning through poorly soldered cans — the first bodies and a message were discovered on an island in the Arctic.

This was followed by discovery of more human remains, and another message describing that Franklin had died and the ships had been abandoned with the survivors heading south overland to the nearest human settlement.

Further human remains were discovered — with evidence that the survivors had resorted to cannibalism. Inuit lore had been telling us exactly where one of the ships would be for centuries. We chose not to listen.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper might be genuinely interested in this and it truly is an amazing historical find, but he has politicized this issue, which is its own tragedy.

We should honour the memory of the men who were lost, the sacrifice they made for science and exploration, not stuff the ego of the Conservative party. Brendan Edge, Braeside