Not only was Stephen Harper’s much vaunted Franklin expedition discovery earlier this year paid for by the private sector – a group of international donors – but, in order to get the donors to the discovery, Canada had to ask a Russian ship to carry the donors to the site because Canada’s Coast Gaurd icebreaker couldn’t make it.
According to a Canadian Press story by Jennifer Ditchburn,”A Russian-owned ship became part of the multi-partner Victoria Strait Expedition after it became apparent that the Canadian alternative, a former coast guard icebreaker, couldn’t carry the private financial donors underwriting part of the search.”
Not only have Inuit Canadians been anyone who would listen for decades that the ship would be found exactly where they found it, the expedition which finally found where they were told it would be had to be internationally financed since, well you know how Harper feels about science, academics and research and all that.
So much for Canadian sovereignty in the arctic.
So much for all the blustering and meaningless rhetoric from Harper about Vladimir Putin.