From Sea To Sea

While most folks know that Canada is the world's second largest country by landmass, not everyone appreciates that it also has the world's largest coastline by a wide margin. Bounded by the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans, the total coastline measures over 202,000 km. That's a lot of territory to keep an eye on though, to be fair, there isn't much going on in most of it. Still, each coastline has its own attractions and activities and together they make up a large part of the Canadian identity.

The Pacific northwest coast from Vancouver to Alaska has played host to the most successful groups of Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Nourished by an environment rich in natural resources, particularly salmon and shellfish for food and cedar trees for home construction, dug-out canoes and artwork, this abundance of resources allowed them to build permanent settlements and flourish. It became the most densely populated First Nations area in Canada. Nowadays the coast is a playground for recreational boaters while thousands of others flock to Vancouver to board giant cruiseships and follow the coastline to the glaciers of Alaska while admiring the wildlife, rainforest, and rugged, snow capped, mountain ranges along the way.

The Atlantic coast on the other hand has a much different history, as it is here where Europeans first encountered the First Nations people a few hundred years before they did on the west coast. It was also the scene of many battles between the French and English and their respective native allies. The coastline is sprinkled with lighthouses, beautiful beaches, historic battlements, and lobster fishing fleets. It also boasts the highest tides in the world.

The Arctic Ocean is completely different from the Pacific and Atlantic. Not only is it much colder, it also serves as the highway to connect the few communities that exist in the North. The waters surround many islands that have weathered thousands of years of ice ages and glaciers, and the wildlife that exist are highly evolved to survive in this extremely harsh environment. The Inuit who live here have also managed to adapt and survive over several thousand years. But as unforgiving as the environment is it also has a certain beauty and each of the icebergs floating past are a unique work of art.

While the Arctic Ocean provides the greatest challenge to patrol, the Canadian government has outlined a large multi-billion dollar vessel shipbuilding program that will see up to 50 combat and non-combat vessels constructed for all of Canada's waterways. Half of them will be for the navy and the other half for the coast guard and they include 18 icebreakers. The ships promise to be best in class and in addition to security and protection will provide search and rescue services, emergency response, and a year round presence in the North in support of Indigenous Peoples.  200,000+ km of coastline is a lot of ocean to cover but if we want to ensure our sovereignty from sea to sea, it's probably our most important investment.