This past Tuesday at the close of a summit meeting held in Montebello, Quebec between the three leaders of North America, President Bush reiterated the official American position towards Canada’s sovereign claim to the Northwest Passage — it’s an international strait linking two oceans.  While officially Canada and the United States still differ on this subject, former US ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci, recently acknowledged that he believes in the wake of the 9/11 events it’s in the best interest of the United States to consider the Northwest Passage part of Canada.  Although it appears in this context diverging American opinions exist on the subject, I would be willing to assume that a common consensus will be reached to an eventual acceptance of Canada’s claims once a justified Canadian Arctic military position is defined i.e. PM Harper’s military promises — Arctic patrol vessels, deep-water port, etc.

Here is a link to an article on the subject:

http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/248110