Lock, Stock, and Icebergs

In 1988, after years of failed negotiations over the status of the Northwest Passage, Brian Mulroney gave Ronald Reagan a globe, pointed to the Arctic, and said “Ron that’s ours. We own it lock, stock, and icebergs.” A simple statement, it summed up a hundred years of official policy. Since the nineteenth century, Canadian governments have claimed ownership of the land and the icy passageways that make up the Arctic Archipelago. Unfortunately for Ottawa, many countries – including the United States – still do not recognize these as internal Canadian waters.

Crucial to understanding the complex nature of Canadian Arctic sovereignty is an understanding of its history. Lock, Stock, and Icebergs draws on recently declassified Canadian and American archival material to chart the origins and development of Canadian Arctic maritime policy. Uncovering decades of internal policy debates, secret negotiations with the United States, and long-classified joint-defence projects, Adam Lajeunesse traces the circuitous history of Canada’s Arctic maritime sovereignty.