Finding Long-Lost Shipwrecks Is Part of Canada's Strategy to Win the Arctic

After spending taxpayer dollars on several scientific expeditions scouring the Arctic for remnants of Sir John Franklin’s 1845 lost Arctic voyage, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s dreams of finding the HMS Erebus and Terror have so far come up short—and with them, his attempts to build a historical narrative aimed at bolstering Canada's claims to the Arctic seafloor.

There was hope in a Canadian Forces release today, when the Harper government triumphantly announced new images captured of the Breadalbane, one of the sunken ships originally tasked with finding survivors of Franklin’s voyage—which makes it one of the only substantial artifacts linking Canada with the lost Franklin expedition.

"Personnel deployed on Operation NUNALIVUT 2014 have captured exciting new footage of the sunken merchant ship Breadalbane, a National Historic Site of Canada,” reads the emailed release.

Funny thing is this isn’t new: The sunken Breadalbane, a merchant supply ship originally sunk in 1853, was already discovered completely intact in 1983. The joint operation between the CAF, Parks Canada, and private company SeaBotix sent naval divers and remotely operated vehicles to the Arctic seafloor to update images of Canada’s most northerly shipwreck.

But that didn’t stop Canada’s Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq, herself a native of Nunavut, from overselling the mission as a public triumph. "Our government is committed to protecting Canada's rich natural heritage and historic sites,” she said.

The public release might be the Prime Minister’s attempt to save face. Harper hoped for these searches to turn up a ship or two once they began in 2008. Having already commissioned five searches by underwater archaeologists (even enlisting the help of the Canadian Space Agency), the ships remain elusive with only small artifacts and pieces of human remains being found.

In fact, I’ve personally seen Franklin expedition related artifacts in glass displays outside of the prime minister's office in Ottawa. The symbolism isn’t lost: Harper wants the Arctic.

Finding Franklin’s ships, the HMS Erebus and Terror, will help establish for his relatively young country the historical chops to compete with Russia’s own aggressive claim over disputed and potentially resource-rich Arctic land. Of course, Canada didn’t exist at the time of Franklin’s journey, and any actual historical link with the voyage is tenuous.

In the end, historic claims will not be part of the legal framework deciding the fate of the Arctic, with geological evidence on the continental shelf deciding Canada's Arctic land boundaries at the UN. For Harper, finding remnants of the legendary voyage is about building a narrative.

“It’s sort of finding that Holy Grail that every society wants to find,” says Robert Huebert, an Arctic expert at the University of Calgary.

“To a large degree that’s what this particular wreck, really represents," he said. "In terms of the international legal ramifications it’s not that significant. Historically and culturally very significant."

Huebert believes Harper is fascinated by the Arctic in the same way he was commemorating the War of 1812, which to some people was pure propaganda building a Conservative national narrative. Huebert thinks where Harper’s interests go, Canada’s go. Building national interest in the Arctic, builds support for an aggressive claim.

“Saying to the world ‘look we’ve always been here,’ that is an important statement of sovereignty, but not in the context of an international legal claim,” said Huebert. “It’s symbolic, not legal.”

Ultimately, Harper’s Arctic lust won’t be determined on the sunken masts of the Erebus or Terror, especially since most credible sources believe the ships are lost forever. Diplomacy and harsh negotiations with Russia, a looming military threat with the audacity to invade land they consider theirs, are more on the horizon. Other than that, Harper will keep finding the Breadalbane exactly where he left it.