Lock, Stock, and Icebergs: A History of Canada’s Arctic Maritime Sovereignty
Adam Lajeunesse
In 1988, after years of failed negotiations over the status of the Northwest Passage, Brian Mulroney gave Ronald Reagan a globe, pointed to the Arctic, and said “Ron that’s ours. We own it lock, stock, and icebergs.” A simple statement, it summed up a hundred years of official policy. Since the nineteenth century, Canadian governments have claimed ownership of the land and the icy passageways that make up the Arctic Archipelago. Unfortunately for Ottawa, many countries – including the United States – still do not recognize these as internal Canadian waters.
Crucial to understanding the complex nature of Canadian Arctic sovereignty is an understanding of its history. Lock, Stock, and Icebergs draws on recently declassified Canadian and American archival material to chart the origins and development of Canadian Arctic maritime policy. Uncovering decades of internal policy debates, secret negotiations with the United States, and long-classified joint-defence projects, Adam Lajeunesse traces the circuitous history of Canada’s Arctic maritime sovereignty.
Product Details
About Adam Lajeunesse
Reviews for Lock, Stock, and Icebergs: A History of Canada’s Arctic Maritime Sovereignty
Franklyn Griffiths, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto
Arctic
…this book [is] an indispensable and major contribution to the literature and discussions on Canadian Arctic maritime sovereignty claims, most importantly the contested Northwest Passage … Lajeunesse not only provides a solid explanation of the subject’s historiographical debates, he offers a new perspective that enriches the debate.
Elizabeth Elliot-Meisel, Creighton University
The International Journal of Maritime History
Lajeunesse’s study should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in the history of Canada’s Arctic policy and the basis of its Arctic maritime sovereignty. This book should also prove useful to policy-makers. As Lajeunesse has shown, holes remain in the sovereignty tapestry that covers Canada’s Arctic waters. Questions will continue to arise. In providing a window into the past developments that have shaped Canadian legal thinking and Arctic policy, Lajeunesse has done a great service for those engaging in future discussions, deliberations, and debates about these issues.
Peter Kikkert, Sheridan College
International Journal