Canadian Sovereignty Networks

 

There is nothing more precious to a country than its sovereignty which is defined as the supreme, independent authority of a state to rule itself, make its own laws, and manage its internal and external affairs without outside interference. Nowhere is this more critical than in the various types of networks that connect a country together. The very first Canadian network was the railway, completed in 1885, which was essential for linking the eastern provinces and territories with British Columbia and warding off U.S. expansionist ideas.

In 1953 the Enbridge pipeline line 5 was completed to transport oil from Alberta to the refinery in Sarnia Ontario. However, to avoid having to go through the difficult Canadian Shield the pipeline diverts into the U.S. through the States of Wisconsin and Michigan and under the Straits of Mackinac which is now an environmental point of contention between Canada and the U.S. owing to the age of the pipeline and the threat of a leak into the Great Lakes. The pipeline currently supplies Michigan with 65% of its home heating propane and half the feedstock for Quebec and Ontario refineries so it is critical to both Michigan and Canada for the products it transports. Enbridge would like to replace the underwater portion with a new one but the permitting process is tied up in the courts and therein lies the weakness of having a critical network running through the U.S. If Enbridge loses the court case it is possible the pipeline could be shut off at the Canadian border. An obvious failsafe solution would be to route a new pipeline around the Great Lakes on Canadian territory. 

Fortunately, the Trans Canada Natural Gas Pipeline which was completed in 1958 has managed to avoid this problem. The pipeline is still able to supply U.S. customers where it meets the border but it can also expand to International customers via an extension through Quebec and New Brunswick. It could also be converted to an oil pipeline.  Of course there would also be environmental and political hurdles to overcome but at least we have options with the pipeline being completely in Canadian territory.

Interestingly the Trans-Canada freeway opened in 1962 but wasn't completed until 1971. While the route is completely within Canada the roads to the Northern Territories are very limited. Fortunately there is now an economic and military impetus to expand our presence in the North. Both the Mackenzie Valley highway and the Grays Bay road to the Arctic coast (Coronation Gulf) near Kugluktuk (formerly Coppermine) will finally connect all of the Provinces and Territories within Canada.

The electrical grid is probably the most fragmented network we have in Canada. Each of the regions is connected in a North South configuration with no national East West connection. It's great for selling and buying power to the U.S. but again it leaves the country as a whole out in the cold. Another national priority should be building out an intereconnected trans-Canada grid that optimizes in-house electrical production and consumption.

Even more pressing is the need for a sovereign digital network whereby all Canadian data traffic stays within the country and beyond U.S. surveillance regulations never mind potential data tarriffs and service interruptions. It's estimated that currently 25% of Canadian internet traffic "boomerangs" through the U.S. as data gets routed through hubs in Seattle and Chicago. Fortunately this is now a federal priority with the government planning to finance a coast to coast sovereign broadband backbone.

Yet another sovereignty issue is the global payment system of which the U.S. dominates with over 50% of financial transactions going through its institutional rails such as the Visa and MasterCard networks, and SWIFT the global financial communications network. This also gives the U.S. the power to impose sanctions on countries such as Iran and Russia by forbidding U.S. banks to maintain accounts or transmit payments for sanctioned foreign banks, and to sever any connection to the global dollar network. Because of sanction risks and U.S. dominance, alternative payment systems are in the process of being set up by Europe and the BRICS bloc to process financial transactions and Canada has launched its own Real-Time Rail payment system as well.

Canada has a rich history in satellite communications which are another critical component of national sovereignty. In 1962 Canada became only the 3rd country in the world to launch a satellite, named Alouette, into space. Its objective was to study the Earths ionosphere to improve long-range high-frequency radio communications. In 1972 Anik A1 was launched, making Canada the first country in the world to launch a domestic commercial communications satellite into geostationary orbit bringing live TV, radio and telephone service to remote northern communities. In 2019 the Canadian Space Agency and MDA launched the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) a fleet of three satellites with 24 hour all weather imaging capability sent up to provide daily maritime surveillance, disaster management, and ecosystem monitoring. Recently the Canadian Space Agency, MDA, and Telesat Lightspeed have announced a program to put 298 low earth orbit (LEO) satellites into service to deliver sovereign, high-speed connectivity for enterprise, government and military markets. As part of a military-enhanced communications project this will now be expanded by adding another 69 dedicated defence satellites. Being dependant on another country to provide you with a communications network is a disaster as the Ukraine recently discovered when the U.S. ordered a temporary shutdown of Starlink which was providing their military with critical communications about incoming Russian missiles. It should be noted the Starlink network has over 10,000+ satellites representing 75% of the LEO satellites in space.

As Canada begins the process of rebuilding its military network, our country's most visible manifestation of sovereignty, the choice of suppliers is critical. The deterioration of our U.S. relationship has forced us to make a long overdue diversification of trade and a strengthening of other partnerships, particularly with Europe. We have already decided to buy 12 new submarines from Germany and Norway and now we are trying to decide who will supply our new fleet of 88 fighter jets, the U.S. or Sweden. The choice should be obvious and it isn't the U.S. The F-35 is more expensive to buy and operate, isn't suitable for northern Canadian conditions, is very complicated to maintain and, most troubling of all, uses U.S. controlled software that creates operational dependencies. The Gripen on the other hand is faster, battle tested, well suited for harsh Arctic environments, uses open architecture software that guarantees sovereign independence, and is offering Canada the opportunity to build the airplanes here in Canada under license which would create 6,000 - 10,000 jobs. 

True sovereignty is something Canada has struggled with since its inception. First we had to shake off British control only to fall into the arms of the U.S. Over the years various forms of trade and foreign affairs disagreements have come and gone but for the most part we were quite happy to give the Americans the benefit of the doubt and take their side. We also quietly surrendered our sovereignty over most of our networks. With Trump's policies this has all been upended and, as we start to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, we will look back at this period and thank him for helping us shed our complaisance and get focused on our sovereignty.

A New Cold War

Once upon a time the whole world was completely swept up in a war. Not World War One or Two but something called the Cold War. It lasted from 1947-1991, a period of international rivalry between the capitalist led United States and its allies and the communist led Russia and its allies in the Soviet Union and China. However, because both sides possessed enormous numbers of nuclear weapons they never fought with each other directly for fear of unleashing complete nuclear destruction. This strategy was referred to as Mutually Assured Destruction or MAD. Instead both sides supported smaller conflicts with proxy partners like Korea, Vietnam, and Angola. 

As part of Canada's contribution to the defense of North America a joint defense organization was established in 1957 called the North American Aerospace Defense Command or NORAD, and a series of radar stations were built in the 1950's across the country to detect any possible Soviet bombers coming over the North Pole. Called the Distant Early Warning Line or DEW Line it was the biggest military project in Arctic history. However, the construction of this Dew Line had a profoundly negative impact on the Inuit who lived there as their way of life changed radically and the pristine North was treated as a garbage dump.

In the 1960's with the advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, this radar technology became obsolete and the stations were decommisioned, leaving even more mess to clean up. The toxic cleanup continues to this day, a project that has cost close to $1 billion dollars and leaves behind 134 landfills containing 283,000 cubic metres of less contaminated soil and non-hazardous waste from buildings, steel drums, and water tanks. The other 35,000 cubic metres of soil contaminated with PCBs and lead have been bagged and shipped south for incineration. The DEW Line was replaced by the North Warning System using a more advanced Over The Horizon radar.

Now with hypersonic missiles being the latest in missile technology, a new type of defense system is believed to be required which Trump is calling the Golden Dome. This would integrate both land based and space based missile detection systems to shield the U.S. from ICMBs, hypersonic missiles and missiles launched by submarines. Once again Canada is being asked to pony up for a share in the cost which will be in the billions.

But before Canada decides to help pay for the Golden Dome or something similar as part of the U.S. pressure to increase our contribution to the defense of North America and end our so-called "free ride" perhaps a closer look at a polar map would be warranted. The first thing to notice is that nobody will ever be invading Canada from the North. The frozen seas, arctic wasteland, and topography make it impossible. There won't be any tanks or troops marching across the frozen tundra to Churchill or Yellowknife. The ICBMs and other missiles won't be aimed at Winnipeg or Toronto either. They will be aimed at non-Canadian targets like Chicago, New York and other U.S. cities. Nobody is coming after us so we don't need America's protection. Besides the Cold War is over and MAD is still an effective deterrent. There are other more important issues.

Thanks to climate change and water use, the falling water levels of the Hoover Dam reservoir known as Lake Mead, point to a much bigger issue the U.S. is facing and that's a shortage of fresh water. This shortage of fresh water is happening all over the U.S. particularly in the Northern and Southern plains  but it is also starting to affect the Northwest and Minnesota. In the West the Colorado River basin is particularly stressed with major reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell sitting at low capacity. A shortage of fresh water is much more of a threat than any missiles, particularly for Canadians.

With Canada possessing 20% of the world's fresh water in its millions of lakes and rivers, not to mention parts of the Great Lakes water system, it's no wonder the U.S. would look enviously at us and try to come up with a way to tap into it. Already Trump has suggested building a pipeline from the Columbia River to California and there have also been discussions about tapping into the Great Lakes themselves with a pipeline across America. The hotter our world gets the more thirsty it gets as well and if we don't cooperate when the time comes we could very well find ourselves invaded from the south.

All the more reason to build up our military separate from that of the United States. German made submarines along with our domestically built icebreakers and frigates are the first step. Next is signing up with Sweden for their Saab fighter jet design that has proven to work well in the North and we can also build in-house instead of buying the overpriced and unreliable American F-35s. Taken together these and other initiatives will enable us to patrol the North and all of our coastlines while creating jobs in manufacturing and all sorts of trades. We don't have to start a fight with the U.S. but we can certainly give them the cold shoulder and that's the kind of cold war we can win.

Lock Up The Separatists

 

At a time when we are under an economic and possibly a military threat from the U.S. why would the nutbars in Alberta think this is a good time to talk about separating? It's always the same misinformed, red-faced, overweight, loud mouthed rural bumpkins spouting nonsense about how hard done by they are and how much better it will be for everyone if the kingdom of Alberta was a country on its own. 

Maybe we should start with a little history lesson, something these seditious idiots have obviously never learned.

• In 1867, Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were the first 4 British colonies that became the founding provinces that formed Canada
• In 1869, following the dissolution of the Hudson Bay Company's fur trade, Rupert's Land was given back to Britain who, in turn, sold it to Canada and was then made into the North-West Territories
• In 1870, following the successful Red River uprising, Manitoba was created out of the North-West Territories
• In 1871, another British colony, British Columbia, voted to join the Canadian federation
• From 1871-1877 the first 7 of 11 Numbered Treaties were signed with various First Nations in order to facilitate the settling of the land and construction of a railroad across the Prairies
• In 1873, Prince Edward Island, another British colony, voted to join Canada
• In 1880, the Arctic Archipelago/British Arctic Territories, were transferred to Canada
• In 1898, the Yukon Territory was created out of the North-West Territory
• In 1905, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created out of the North-West Territories.
• In 1912, the Provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec were expanded with territory from the North-West Territories 
• In 1949, Newfoundland, the oldest English colony in North America, voted to join Canada

In other words Alberta was a creation of the federal government and I'm surprised the Feds don't threaten to repeal whatever act it was that made Alberta in the first place and turn it back to the North-West Territories. Half of Ontario and Quebec are also the creation of the federal government, and it's time all of the Provinces realize they have no right to separate, particularly the ones in the Prairies.

Furthermore, 5 of the 11 Numbered Treaties cross the Alberta borders and, in spite of the trickery and dereliction of fiduciary responsibility involved in getting the First Nations to sign these Treaties, you don't hear them calling for their abolition. All they ever ask for is that we, as a country, live up to the terms that we agreed on, specifically hunting, trapping, and fishing rights on unoccupied Crown land. In 1930 the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement transferred control of Crown lands and natural resources from the Canadian federal government to the Prairie provinces which they did not have upon entering Confederation. However, this transfer occurred without the free, prior, and informed consent of First Nations, whose land and resources were affected, and has led to ongoing legal disputes. This is not something that's going to go away.

Unfortunately for Danielle Smith, the Premier of Alberta, her party seems to be dominated by the crackpot separatists and, in spite of being told their petition efforts are illegal, she has to coddle them along by promising to appeal the courts ruling. After Trudeau took over the first out-of-control pipeline project and brought it to conclusion, and Carney now helping them with a 3rd pipeline, people in Alberta should be on their knees giving thanks to the Federal government and the rest of the country. With Alberta now able to access the world market through B.C., instead of just the U.S. market, they are finally getting the proper price for their oil. Good luck moving any of that oil if they were a seperate land-locked country. 

If the separatists think the U.S. is such a great place then they should move there, or at least try to because their actions are nothing short of treasonous and they should be tried accordingly. Being convicted of treason means an automatic life sentence in prison. In the old days treason was punishable by being hanged, drawn and quartered. Premiers who talk of separation, or worse, joining the U.S., should be locked up, and the Federal government needs to bring in legislation outlawing any effort to break this country apart. It's taken a long time to put this country together and we've all had enough of this separation nonsense.

Carney Charts A New Path For Canada And The Rest Of The World

 

On January 20th, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Canada's Prime Minister, Mark Carney, gave a speech of the ages denouncing American hegemony and offering a roadmap to NATO allies of how they can stand together against the bully in the schoolyard. It was a masterful performance that quoted Thucydides and Vaclav Havel, and called out the hypocrisy of the so-called rules-based international order. He stressed that Canada and its allies need to acknowledge the old world order is gone, that nostalgia is not a strategy, and we must move forward with new alliances and value-based realism. To do otherwise is to put ourselves on the menu.

Only a few days earlier Carney was able to announce an engineered reset between Canada and China that rolled back tariffs on Canadian farm goods and lobsters in exchange for rolled back tariffs on Chinese EVs. Whether Trump liked it or not wasn't of any concern to Canada, in spite of putting up the tariffs in the first place because of  U.S. pressure, it was time to chart our own course. This was great news for the beleaguered prairie provinces and Ontario in spite of a short sighted and petulant Rob Ford.  The existing Canadian auto industry is an over subsidized and dying business that needs Chinese investment if it's going to survive.

At any rate Ontario will soon be busy making jeeps, trucks and other military vehicles instead of cars. And it's virtually assured now that we won't be buying any more F-35 jet fighters from the U.S. and instead will be partnering with Saab to buy and build their Gripens. The F-35 never made any sense in the first place and even less now that the Americans can't be trusted. The only question now is whether Germany or South Korea will get the submarine order.

In the meantime the U.S. (actually President Trump) threatened to take over Greenland, part of Danish territory and a fellow NATO member and to impose tariffs on any country that disagreed. It was a good opportunity for a coalition of European countries and Canada to demonstrate they are prepared to stand up to America and not only put boots on the ground but also threaten economic retaliation. Ultimately Trump decided to back down. 

But while Trump was once again exposed for the blowhard clown and blackmailer that he really is (in addition to being a gangster, crook, and rapist) it reinforced the need for Canada to build military bases in the north. We have virtually no military presence north of the 60th parallel, never mind the Arctic Circle, but cities like Inuvik, Iqualuit, and Resolute would be ideal locations, as well as Churchill, to set up airforce and navy bases. And we need to get started ASAP.

It's going to take some time to shift our trading dependance on the U.S. but there are other markets for our goods and services. While China is an obvious choice there are also risks in getting too integrated with yet another hegemon. Closer ties with Europe would be the first choice but there is also Japan, South Korea and the Southeast Asian countries that could use our products. Again, speed is of the essence and Carney has been busy with almost non-stop globe-trotting, signing trade agreements, and lining up investors.

Canada has never had a Prime Minister this smart or well connected and he is demonstrating to the country and the rest of the world what real statesmanship looks like. Clear headed, calm, and always diplomatic, he has a plan for getting things done and won't be sidetracked by anyone. Thanks to Mark Carney, Canadians have never felt prouder or looked better on the world stage. Elbows up everyone.

 

Prince Rupert By Rail Or By Pipeline

 

From a slow beginning in 1914, the Port of Prince Rupert has since evolved to become Canada's 3rd busiest seaport and a critical component in the effort to diversify our exports. Strategically located on the Pacific Great Circle Route between Asia and the West Coast of North America, it's the closest port to Asia as well as being the deepest ice free harbour in North America. Connected to the rest of the country by the CN rail network, it offers the most convenient solution to the seemingly intractable problem of getting Albertan oil to market.

In addition to being a container port, and handling various bulk commodities like coal and grain, it is also a liquified petroleum gas (LPG) facility. Exporting propane and butane from the Ridley Island energy export facility, which is expanding to handle up to 171 ships per year, it is also well positioned to add natural gas or crude oil from the tar sands. Even without a pipeline oil could be delivered by rail without any additional approvals. The only real issue is the north coast tanker ban.

In Vancouver, oil tankers are already safely navigating a technically more difficult passage through Juan de Fuca Strait thanks to a tugboat escort for every ship, and the same thing could easily be arranged for Prince Rupert out past Haida Gwaii which is roughly the same distance.

But while rail is an option it can only be a temporary one. Pipelines are much safer and an infinitely more efficient method of transporting any petroleum product. To handle the 890,000 barrels of crude oil a day now going through the Trans Mountain pipeline would require an equivalent 1,300 railcars per day. However, with all the problems of trying to find a pipeline route to Prince Rupert it might be easier to just add another one next to the recently completed Trans Mountain pipeline in Vancouver.

But while the debate rages over the best location for an oil pipeline, the Port of Prince Rupert lost out on what could have been Nutrien's latest potash facility. Vancouver had run out of room for another bulk facility but Prince Rupert could easily have accomodated it yet inexplicably they decided to locate in Washington instead. Nutrien is a Saskatechewan company that is the world's largest producer of potash and it goes to show that if we can't convince ourselves to take advantage of what we have to offer we are never going to win the bigger fight. It's time to get behind oil shipments to Prince Rupert and, while we wait for a pipeline to be built, ship it there by rail.

Churchill - Canada's Gateway To The World

 

The secret to getting ocean access to export oil and gas is not on the west or east coast but rather right up the north through the Port of Churchill on Hudson Bay. Originally opened in the 1920's there is already a fully built out port along with a refurbished railway connecting back to Winnipeg that is sitting there under utilized and waiting for the stars to align. Fortunately that moment has finally arrived.

With the European tap to Russian natural gas now turned off thanks to the Ukrainian war, there exists a huge opportnity for Canadian natural gas to take its place and provide a little competition to the Americans who are currently the only supplier. Natural gas is now flowing to Asian countries via the new facilities in Kitimat on the west coast with more to follow, but the European market is effectively closed off without the proposed pipeline extention through Quebec to the Maritimes that was nixed back in 2017. 

But folks in the Prairie provinces are certainly not opposed to pipelines and an alternate route could be tapped into the existing Trans Canada Mainline pipeline at Portage La Prairie/Winnipeg and follow the Hudson Bay railway up to Churchill. Alberta oil could probably also be shipped on this route and loaded onto bulk tankers for delivery to the Irving Oil refinery in St. John, the country's largest. Both the port and the railway are owned by the Arctic Gateway Group, an Indigenous and community owned company which also ensures benefits flow to the people and communities of the North. 

Hudson's Bay Railway

Of course there is even more we could do with the Port of Churchill. Churchill offers the closest route for European goods to enter the North American market and connect to the intercontinental railway. With its four deep-sea berths capable of handling Panamax-size ships for bulk shipping, general cargo, and oil tankers, not to mention its grain elevators, with 140,000 tons of storage capacity, or 2,500,000 bushels of grain, that are three times the size of Vancouver's, this port should be bustling year round, and it would also make an ideal location for an LNG plant and container terminal. 

It's been 100 years since the Port of Churchill first opened and the vision of the folks back then is even more valid today. With all the geopolitical changes that have been happening, the timing has never been better for realizing the full potential of this arctic port. Yes there is the problem of sea ice, which currently limits shipping through Hudson Bay to a maximum of 5 months per year, but one of our new icebreakers would be able to clear an open path for any ship that wanted to transit in from or out to the Atlantic Ocean. The time has come for the polar bear and beluga whale capital of Canada to finally cash in on its unique location and become Canada's gateway to the world.