| The loss of the arctic passage to the US is inevitable as Canada - the country and the provinces - are not competent, clear-eyed. More importantly, no one is going to die to prevent northern navigation because you never feel like the country has your back. When I was in Tokyo during the 2011 earthquakes, the French government offered evacuation trips. At the time we thought it was an overreaction by France (but not really [1]). I always felt a bit jealous though, even though I never planned on evacuating; their country was looking out for them. I did get to see the emails my wife got from the Japanese embassy during COVID-19. The emails were tailored to the location she was in (Calgary in this case) and had full translations of important information (lockdown measures, where to get vaccinations, etc..). This went on for months. The country felt her being well-informed was worth the effort they put in tailoring the communication they sent out. However, as a Canadian, in Japan, during the earthquake in 2011, I got a generic email telling me to "observe local media". While I read / speak Japanese, that was absolutely not common at the time, and disinformation in the foreign press was RAMPANT. As a result, low-effort bureaucracy is what I associate with Canada. I see it all the time. Do you want to sponsor your partner? It took 2-3 weeks in Japan, 6-12 months in Canada. You want to vaccinate your kids? My friend in Ottawa had to take a trip to Calgarhy to get his infant child vaccinated, because he didn't have a family doctor. Need to get your passport renewed? Windows-only PDF forms. Wait in line for 8 hours (!!), and be grateful. (The CRA site is great though, I wonder why.) These are the real life interfaces between government and citizen, not statements in the press. This is the sorts of interface where you decide whether your country loves you or not. I'm only talking about upper and middle class stuff; imagine being in the lower economic classes and navigating this for help; it's even worse. There is no love for them, and no helping hand other than the kindness of other people. The thing about low-effort bureaucracies is that you aren't going to die for them. The Arctic ocean is going to belong to the US and the sooner our local elite understands, the better they can negotiate and get their cut. [1] Years after the fact we found out that the Japanese government had considered the possibility that it might have been necessary to evacuate Tokyo. |
I don't know about that, the Russians are way ahead of everybody in developing their Arctic and ability to protect their interests there. As a Canadian, I, personally, would like us to join the Belt & Road. Going forward, my belief is that our interests are more aligned with Russia and China and the growing Global South. Let us get rid of our colonial shackles once and for all, eh?!