En 1944, Henry Asbjørn Larsen et l'équipage du St-Roch ont achevé la première traversée en une seule saison du passage du Nord-Ouest, ayant parcouru 11 740 kilomètres en 86 jours. Le voyage a également marqué la première traversée réussie de la route vers le nord du passage du Nord-Ouest. Mais pourquoi le gouvernement canadien a-t-il décidé de dépêcher le St-Roch dans l'Extrême-Arctique en plein milieu de la Seconde Guerre mondiale? Pourquoi le navire a-t-il visité les îles inhabitées de la partie nord de l'archipel arctique, où il n'y avait personne à surveiller? En abordant ces questions, le présent article situe le voyage du St-Roch dans l'histoire plus générale de la souveraineté canadienne dans l'Arctique.At noon on 28 August 1944, the RCMP schooner St. Roch anchored at the entrance of Winter Harbour, Melville Island. The previous days had brought blinding snow, thick fog, and worsening ice conditions as the ship maneuvered through the northerly route of the Northwest Passage. Now "very thick weather" kept the crew from sailing into the cove. When the conditions improved a few hours later, the ship moved inside Winter Harbour, carefully dodging the "large pieces of heavy ice" that crowded its waters. Led by their captain, Staff Sergeant Henry Asbjørn Larsen, the crew rowed ashore to visit one of the most famous sites on Canada's high Arctic islands: Parry's Rock.In 1819, the Royal Navy's William Edward Parry had taken HMS Hecla and HMS Griper through unusually ice-free waters in the channel that now bears 12 Quoted in Ivan Head, "Canadian Claims to Territorial Sovereignty in the Arctic Regions," McGill
On November 22, 2021, Dr. Whitney Lackenbauer, Professor and Canada Research Chair at Trent University, presented Canadian-American Solutions to the Questions of Arctic Security at the 2021 CASIS West Coast Security Conference. The presentation was followed by a question and answer period with questions from the audience and CASIS Vancouver executives. The key points discussed were Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic, the changing global threat environment, and the U.S.-Canada Arctic partnership.
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