Lock, Stock, and Icebergs

Lajeunesse’s study should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in the history of Canada’s Arctic policy and the basis of its Arctic maritime sovereignty. This book should also prove useful to policy-makers. As Lajeunesse has shown, holes remain in the sovereignty tapestry that covers Canada’s Arctic waters. Questions will continue to arise. In providing a window into the past developments that have shaped Canadian legal thinking and Arctic policy, Lajeunesse has done a great service for those engaging in future discussions, deliberations, and debates about these issues.

Elizabeth Elliot-Meisel, Creighton University:

…this book [is] an indispensable and major contribution to the literature and discussions on Canadian Arctic maritime sovereignty claims, most importantly the contested Northwest Passage … Lajeunesse not only provides a solid explanation of the subject’s historiographical debates, he offers a new perspective that enriches the debate.

Franklyn Griffiths, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto:
Lock, Stock and Icebergs sets a new standard for Canadian Arctic policy studies. Not everyone in this country will agree with or be pleased by what the author has to say. But every one of us who is interested in the Arctic stands to gain by coming to terms with his take on a theme that’s in danger of becoming stale. And if somehow a good number of us were to become critically aware of the information, perspectives, and insights that are on offer here, the quality of Canadian public debate about the Arctic would improve, perhaps greatly. All along, the rigour and ease displayed by Adam Lajeunesse in delving into the governmental side of Canadian Arctic policy-making are a challenge to those who would do the same.

Tom Axworthy, Senior Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto:
Lock, Stock, and Icebergs provides a behind-the-scenes look at the evolution and eventual proclamation of Canada’s Maritime Arctic sovereignty policy. The wealth of historical documents presented here also reveals that this policy was fashioned not through consultation but by officials and politicians in Ottawa who rarely ventured north of 60°. It is a lesson that we ignore at our peril.

Shelagh D. Grant, author of Polar Imperative: A History of Arctic Sovereignty in North America:
Exceptionally well-written and researched, this book adds critical new insight into Canadian-American relations and negotiations over the status of Canada’s Arctic waters, particularly the Northwest Passage. It is a “must read” for all federal politicians, foreign affairs officials, scholars of the north, and anyone interested in Canada’s Arctic sovereignty and the measures needed to protect it.