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HomeMEDIA RESOURCES200815 July 2008 - NATO PARLIAMENTARIANS VISIT CANADA [press release]

15 July 2008 - NATO PARLIAMENTARIANS VISIT CANADA [ press release]

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Fifteen members of the NATO PA Science and Technology Committee’s Sub-Committee on Energy and Environmental Security visited Ottawa and Montreal on 7-10 July. The delegation, led by the Sub-Committee Chairman Mr. Cristian Valeriu Buzea (Romania), discussed nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, energy security and Arctic issues with the representatives of the Canadian government, military, academic and business communities.

NATO parliamentarians were impressed by the information on Canada ’s energy potential. Its vast reserves of oil sands make Canada the oil superpower second only to Saudi Arabia. Canada already accounts for a bigger share of the US oil imports than the Gulf countries. However, the prospects of increasing Canada ’s energy exports to Europe are unclear because the energy transportation infrastructure lies along the North-South axis and not West-East.

The opening of the Northwest Passage for shipping, generated by climate change and the retreating Polar ice cap, presents both opportunities and challenges for Canada. The international law is not clear on the status of the Passage, spurring disputes between the United States, which considers it as international waters, and Canada, which claims its sovereign rights over the Passage. Due to the remoteness of the region, environmental as well as search and rescue issues are also causing concerns. Further retreat of ice in the Arctic Ocean could lead to an opening of a trans-Polar route, which would divert some pressure from the Northwest Passage.

The delegation also visited the leading Canadian aeronautics and nanotechnology companies as well as the Canadian Meteorological Centre.

 
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