No US-Canada thaw on Arctic

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and US President George W Bush on Monday agreed to disagree in a newly hot dispute over control of the Northwest Passage, aides to both leaders said.
"I think it's fair to say that the president came away with a far better understanding of Canada's position," Dan Fisk, senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at Bush's National Security Council said.
"However, I will note that, from the US position, we continue to believe that the Northwest Passage is an international waterway, that there is international navigational rights through the Northwest Passage," said Fisk.
Canada is at odds with Russia, Denmark, Norway and the United States over 1.2 million square kilometers (460,000 square miles) of Arctic seabed, thought to hold 25 per cent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas.
Each nation is claiming flaps of Arctic seabed, believed to hold 25 per cent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves. All of them, including its allies, deny Ottawa's hold on the famed Northwest Passage.
A top aide to Harper, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said it is "unrealistic to think that we are going to agree on absolutely everything but what is really important is that we are talking about even those things we don't necessarily agree on."
Of late, the international rivalry has heated up, with Russia planting a flag at the North Pole and Denmark reportedly on its way, as melting polar ice caps make the region more accessible to economic activity and shipping.
"The prime minister talked about the Northwest Passage, but he spoke more broadly about the Canadian Arctic and the recent announcements and the heightened level of activity in the 'Canadian Arctic,'" said Harper's aide.
"With respect to the Northwest Passage, the prime minister drew the (US) president's attention to the comments of former ambassador Cellucci and the president took careful note, (but he did not respond)," she said.
On Sunday, Paul Cellucci, former US ambassador to Canada, told broadcaster CTV: "In the age of terror, it's in our security interests that the (disputed) Northwest Passage be considered part of Canada."

"That will enable the Canadian navy to intercept and board vessels in the Northwest Passage to make sure they are not bringing weapons of mass destruction into North America." Cellucci said.

But the proposal was immediately dismissed by his successor as "not current US policy."