Canada and the Northwest Passage Pt III

CREC 5936 Part Three - Commercial Exploitation Canada and the Northwest Passage An introduction to the geography, history and the current and future status of this important trade route. Bob Hillier

Let’s review the course to date Part I Video on the consequences of the reduction of sea ice. Columbus, the search for and the eventual transit by Amundsen Transit by RCMP St Roch Part II Geopolitical issues, Canadian Waters versus international seaway Competition and regional claims Part III Today we will look at the current commercial use of the region and future plans.

First Commercial use Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America comprising the Hudson Bay drainage basin, a territory in which a commercial monopoly was operated by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870. The area once known as Rupert's Land is now mainly a part of Canada, but a small portion is now in the United States. It was named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a nephew of Charles I and the first Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). In December 1821, the HBC monopoly was extended from Rupert's Land to the Pacific coast. Northwest company of Montreal Founded 1783. Merged with HBC 1820.

Fur trapping



Fishing in the Northwest Passage. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/canada-joins-high-arctic-fishing-moratorium-1.4847673 The Arctic fishery Commercial fishing is a very small industry in the sparsely populated Arctic. In the Northwest Territories, the Inuit have fished Arctic char for both human consumption and for dog food. Lake trout, whitefish and Arctic cisco are also fished. Typically, anadromous fish populations are easily exploited as they venture to the rivers in large numbers. Generally, Arctic char are abundant throughout this region, however, overexploitation has caused the decline of some populations. If fishing is stopped in these regions, the populations quickly recover. Lake whitefish is another popular commercial fish, especially in Great Slave Lake, in the Northwest Territories. https://www.plummerslodges.com/lodges/

Nunavut was formed from part of the Northwest Territories in 1999. When Canada first became a country, Native people were not asked what they thought about Confederation. ... In the 1970s the Inuit began to talk to the Canadian government about creating a new territory called Nunavut. It has the smallest population of any province or territory in Canada, with 37,996 people. (Pop of CR 37,500) NWT. Yukon was split from the Northwest Territories in 1898 and was originally named the Yukon Territory Whitehorse is the territorial capital and Yukon's only city. NW Territories 44,736 13.5% land of CDA Yellowknife Yukon 38,459 4.8% Whitehorse Nunavut 37,996 20% Iqaluit

Canada is the world’s fourth-largest diamond producer Ethical Mining. A great deal of emphasis is placed on the Canadian diamond industry as a welcome alternative to the blood or conflict diamonds mined in Africa. Canada was one of the main supporters of the Kimberly process, a certification initiative created in 2000 to help deter the trade of conflict diamonds.

The Canadian Diamond Certificate http://www.thecanadiandiamond.com/ Kimberlite Pipes What are Blood Diamonds?? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_diamond

The cutting and polishing process usually happens in the same place / manufacturing unit. These units are located in Antwerp (Belgium), Ramat Gan (Israel), Mumbai/Surat (India) or New York (USA). The polishing in Antwerp has decreased drastically since the emergence of the Indian polishing industry. The top end stones are usually polished in New York, such as any famous pinks/blues/reds which are sold at auction or large white diamonds (30ct–200ct). Ramat Gan has a reputation for polishing using top end technology but their output has also decreased significantly. This leaves Mumbai/Surat, where around 70% of all polished diamonds are cut and polished. This ranges from 0.08mm diamonds to 3ct-5ct. Simple reason for this dynamic is cost of labour. In India the cost per hour is around $10, and in New York around $100. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/diamond Canada has a small but important diamond manufacturing (cutting and polishing) industry, with facilities in Sidney, BC; Yellowknife; Edmonton and Montréal. Aber Diamond Corp (now Harry Winston), co-owner of the Diavik mine, built a diamond sorting plant in Toronto. Traditionally, diamond sorting was conducted only in Antwerp, Belgium. Who owns these mines?? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_diamonds

Dome Petroleum was a Calgary- based oil and gas company. Founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of the Toronto company Dome Mines, Dome was built by Jack Gallagher, who remained with the company until 1983. In 1988 Dome was purchased by Amoco.

Norman Wells (light sweet crude) Sir Alexander MacKenzie recorded “oil seepage” 1798 Drillers struck oil in 1920, Refinery opened 1936 Leduc #1 1947 Canol pipeline to Whitehorse http://www.alaskahighwayarchives.ca/en/chap5/index.php Pipeline was 4 inches in diameter and supplied a refinery at Whitehorse. (abandoned 1945) Current production is 33,000 Bpd (Canadian Production 4.8 million) 1980 Pipeline to Zama city Alberta (line 21) Lots of Natural gas in region. Drake Point, Melville island Panarctic, drilled 175 wells, major gas field, named Taglu Gas Field, was discovered in the Mackenzie River delta in 1971, [40] followed by the Parson Lake field and Niglintgak field. The estimated gas reserves of these 3 3 3 fields are 58,600 km (14,100 cu mi), 35,400 km (8,500 cu mi) and 13,600 km (3,300 cu mi), respectively. Moreover, further into the sea from the Mackenzie delta lies the Amauligak field. This, the largest known oil deposit of the Beaufort Sea, was discovered in 1984, and is estimated to 3 3 contain 37.3 km (8.9 cu mi) of oil and 38,500 km (9,200 cu mi) of gas. The development of these fields is hindered by their remote location. This problem was alleviated for Prudhoe Bay by constructing the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, but is limiting regular commercial production at Mackenzie River deposits. [39] For example, the Amauligak Project was started soon after the discovery of the field. In September 1985, the tanker Gulf Beaufort has transported 50,300,000 l (316,377 bbl) of crude oil to Japan, which was the first shipment of oil from the Arctic deposits. [41] However, the project has stalled after that. (Discus Lennie Pearson, Joshua Slocum – Spray/Tjhane)





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfP4JheT8gw

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/chinese-firm-eyes-churchill-port-482250663.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/western-economic-diversification/news/2018/09/arctic-gateway-group-purchases-omnitrax- companies-in-northern-manitoba.html Work to repair all washouts along the Hudson Bay Railway line has been completed less than six weeks after Arctic Gateway Group LP took possession of the rail line connecting The Pas to the Port of Churchill in Manitoba. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/churchill-rail-line- washouts-fixed-1.4854095

https://www.g3.ca/ https://www.nfu.ca/campaigns/grain-marketing-and-transportation/canadian-wheat-board/ G3 Global Grain Group is a joint venture between Bunge Canada (Bunge) and SALIC Canada Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC), formed to invest in Canada's agricultural grain industry by establishing a highly efficient coast–to-coast grain enterprise. National Farmers Union president Jan Slomp says, \"With this, the Conservative government has accomplished the biggest transfer of wealth away from farmers in the history of Canada. The CWB’s physical assets, its commercial relationships, and its good name have all been given away. The 'buyers' of the CWB actually get to keep the $250 million pittance they are 'paying' for it.\" And the overseas operators moved in.

The demise of the Canadian Wheat Board The CWB’s mandate was to pay farmers a base price for their grain, identify markets, negotiate the best price, deliver the goods, issue advance cheques and make final payment after the crop was sold. If the wheat market went up, farmers pocketed the profits. If the market went down, the government absorbed the loss. Nothing was subtracted from the farmer’s share except the cost of marketing and delivery. The third-highest sales year for wheat industry in Canada was 2011–2012 when the CWB \"sold $7.2- billion worth of grain to more than 70 countries, $4.9 billion of which was paid back to farmers.\" [2] The new Model The wheat buying companies try to buy the wheat from the farmer at the minimum price and then sell at the maximum price – The difference goes to the wheat company NOT the farmer. Performance of these companies in the U.S. indicates they will favour specific farmers and areas, attempt to supply farmers with seed and buy back crop (if any) at their price. They will also select only specific markets, ports and railways. These actions in the U.S. have led to the industry being highly subsidized by the U.S. Government. The farmer always loses. (Will the American companies favour American farmers over Canadian farmers?) https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/industry-still-chafed-five-years-after-end-of-canadian-wheat- board-monopoly

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/08/24/canadian-wheat-board-saudi-arabia_a_23508630/ https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/08/07/canada-saudi-arabia-feud-could-suck-billions-out-of-canadian- economy_a_23497858/?utm_campaign=canada_dau

https://asiancarp.us/AsianCarpProblem.html Discuss Ballast water, GL Seaway.

If you’re thinking of doing the transit here are some ways. https://www.swoop-arctic.com/cruises/northwest-passage/ships https://www.yachtingworld.com/features/jimmy- cornell-transits-the-north-west-passage-70357





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