The slew of record Canadian Arctic announcements continued once again on Monday when it became public that the Federal government plans to install underwater fiber-optic listening posts to monitor marine traffic in the Northwest Passage.  These high-tech listening devices will cost upwards of $100 million and be located in an inlet off Devon island — close to a major artery for the Passage.  These measures are a result of decades of undetected foreign use by the United States military and other countries including Russia.  While able to detect both underwater and surface-going vessels, this technological development is good for general Arctic surveillance since presently there is virtually no reliable and continuously updated information for Canadian officials on foreign and domestic marine traffic.  Plans are in place to start construction on placing this technology as early as next year.

Here is a link to further information on the topic:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2007/09/24/technology-passage.html