A deal has been reached settling a dispute with Denmark over a 1.3-square-kilometre island in the Arctic and is expected to be signed Tuesday, according to a government minister.
Dan Vandal, minister of northern affairs, confirmed Monday that there will be an “official signing” of the accord over Hans Island on Tuesday.
The barren rock has been the subject of decades of diplomatic disputes between the two nations, as it sits in the territorial waters of both.
The agreement is expected to divide the uninhabited island between Ellesmere Island, in Nunavut, and Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.
Vandal, speaking to reporters on Monday, said he was “looking forward” to the signing of the agreement and would attend the ceremony.
He said “discussions have been going on for a long time” and “the important part is that the deal got done and we are going to have the signing tomorrow.”
“I think it’s very positive given our world situation today,” he said.
The deal is likely to mean that Canada, for the first time, shares a land border with Denmark.
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The dispute over the small island has led to good-natured jostling since the 1980s between Canada and Denmark over which country rightfully owns it.
In 1984, Canada planted a flag on the island and left a bottle of Canadian whisky.
Later that year, Denmark’s minister of Greenland affairs visited by helicopter, planting a Danish flag. He also left a bottle of aquavit, a Danish spirit, at the base on the flagpole and is reported to have left a note saying “welcome to the Danish Island.”
In 1988, a Danish Arctic Ocean patrol ship arrived and built a cairn with a flagpole and Danish flag on the island.
Then in 2001, Canadian geologists mapping northern Ellesmere Island flew there by helicopter.
In 2005, Canada’s defence minister Bill Graham went for a walk on Hans Island in a symbolic move. A week before he set foot there, Canadian Forces placed a Canadian flag and plaque on the island, prompting a protest from Denmark, which called in the Canadian ambassador.
In 2005, both countries agreed to reopen negotiations about the island with former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen saying it was “time to stop the flag war.”
Both countries agreed, if they couldn’t reach a deal, to refer it to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for resolution.
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The island is called Tartupaluk in Inuktitut and Greenlandic, and has been part of Inuit hunting grounds for centuries.
Denmark and Canada are NATO allies and both sit on the Arctic Council. Recently the two nations have been co-operating closely over the war in Ukraine, including on aid programs for women and girls fleeing the conflict.
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Joly declined to comment.
But the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Joyce Murray, said the negotiations were “an indication of the strong partnership and friendship that we have with Denmark.”
Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said the deal was “a demonstration of how countries who are upstanding members of our international system can work together to settle disputes around international boundaries.”
“Few things are more sacrosanct in maintaining international order than ensuring that we respect each other’s international boundaries,” Chong said.
NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson told reporters on Monday that the agreement is a sign of greater international co-operation on Arctic affairs.
“Arctic border countries have an obligation to work together and this is just one of those indications that shows that we’re doing that,” she said.
She joked that the deal might mean that Canada could now qualify to compete in the Eurovision song contest.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
