Arctic Blue with Peter Mansbridge

What will Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic mean as the Great White North turns blue?

As the Arctic ice cap melts, a new ocean emerges, filled with peril and promise. How will Canada respond? How will the people of the North survive?

In the summer of 2021, Peter Mansbridge climbed aboard Canada's brand new arctic warship, the HMCS Harry DeWolf, as it made its maiden voyage through the iconic Northwest Passage. 

Traversing the ocean where ice once crushed so many European expeditions — from Hudson to Franklin — the HMCS Harry DeWolf found mostly open water.

As the climate emergency progresses, Arctic ice is melting rapidly. Within the next 15 years, the Arctic ocean is expected to be ice free in summer — a transformation of Canada's geography, as our northern coast will no longer terminate in a forbidden zone of ice. And it's raising new questions about sovereignty. 

Arctic Blue with Peter Mansbridge takes an in-depth look at Canada's claim to the North.  Who will have authority over the Arctic when it isn't covered in ice?

The Arctic is eyed by eight surrounding nations and many other countries for the new possibilities it offers — shipping routes, mineral exploitation — especially as the ice recedes and the ocean opens. Inhabiting the coast of this newly accessible ocean are, of course, the Inuit, who see themselves as part of one large circumpolar family whose members are threatened by the loss of their traditional ice-bound economy. 

In the documentary, we meet community members from the hamlets of Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay and Grise Fiord. Some belong to families who were relocated from Quebec to the barren beaches of the High Arctic islands by the Canadian government in the 1950s, 1,500 kilometres away from their home. 

They were placed there to stake a claim in the North amid the tensions of the Cold War, when American military personnel invaded Canada to build the bomber-detecting Distant Early Warning Line. That incursion also forced a more modern style of living on those already living in the Arctic — one that people are still struggling to cope with. 

As the ice gives way to ocean and new shipping, mining and tourism opportunities arise, Nunavut's leadership is struggling to find the balance between preserving the traditional economy that is vital to life here and encouraging further industrialization to alleviate poverty. 

Meanwhile, around the pole, there are ominous signs of the Cold War's revival. In the Siberian village of Pevek, we see the extraordinary steps that Russia is taking to modernize its coast in preparation for year-round shipping. But other countries, including the U.S., do not like Russia's attempts at dominance, and increasing military encounters in the Bering region are displaying rising tensions.

Among those who envisage a peaceful and cooperative future in the Arctic is Canada's Governor General, Mary Simon, whose life work has been building bridges in the circumpolar region.

Arctic Blue is presented by veteran CBC journalist Peter Mansbridge, capping 50 years of reporting on the changing North. 

Produced for CBC by Toronto's Primitive Entertainment, the film was written and directed by Kevin McMahon, who has been documenting the collision of geopolitics and Arctic communities since the 1980s.