International tension has emerged over the years as to Canada claiming portions of the Northwest Passage as its internal waters, namely a recognition on the part of the United States regarding the Northwest Passage as an international strait.
Various routes of the Northwest Passage. Credit: Wikipedia
Recently two teams of American and Canadian high-level non-governmental Arctic experts met in Ottawa (February, 2008) at the International Joint Commission, where they conducted a “model negotiation” as means to help move forward official diplomacy talks on developing a bilateral agreement for the Northwest Passage. The “model negotiation” concluded that the potential exists for the two countries to reach an agreement. Additionally, the two teams brought forth nine recommendations, mainly highlighting adoptable management principles and passed along these remarks to key government officials in both countries.
For further information on the recommendations, please visit the following link:
Michael Byers. A thaw in relations – Ottawa Citizen