Clinton rebukes Canada at Arctic meeting

OTTAWA -- It was supposed to be a meeting of polar pals. But a high-level session on the dramatic changes in the Arctic turned chilly Monday, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton rapped Canada for leaving out several players.

The Canadian government invited the other four countries with Arctic coastlines -- Russia, Norway, Denmark and the United States -- to hold talks on developing the region, which is being transformed by climate change.

But in an indication of the intrigue and suspicion involved in the opening of the resource-rich region, three other countries and several indigenous groups complained about being excluded.

Clinton raised their concerns in her speech to the closed session.

"Significant international discussions on Arctic issues should include those who have legitimate interests in the region," Clinton said in her remarks, which were provided to reporters. "And I hope the Arctic will always showcase our ability to work together, not create new divisions."

Because of rapid warming in the Arctic, the ice cover could disappear for several months a year in the not-so-distant future, scientists say. That will open up a new Atlantic-Pacific shipping channel and access to up to 90 billion barrels of oil.

The U.S. and other governments are scrambling to lay claim to the seabeds and develop military and commercial plans for the region. Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, countries bordering the Arctic can assert ownership of natural resources up to 200 miles off their coasts.

The three nations that were unhappy about being excluded from Monday's meeting -- Sweden, Finland and Iceland -- are not internationally recognized as bordering the Arctic. However, they belong to the Arctic Council, the main international body focused on its development.

Clinton's comments conveyed her dismay at any moves that could increase tensions in the Arctic region. Still, she said later on Canadian network CTV that Monday's meeting was "excellent," and she highlighted ways the two neighbors were working together -- for example, on mapping the ocean floor.

Canada's foreign minister, Lawrence Cannon, said it made sense for the coastal nations to meet because of their special responsibilities in areas such as search-and-rescue. "In many cases, it will be the Arctic Ocean coastal states that will be both the first ones affected and the best-placed to respond," he said.

Cannon said the smaller group is not intended to supplant the Arctic Council. As for the indigenous groups, who are "permanent participants" of the council, he said the Canadian government believes strongly that they should benefit from the development.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has tried to position his country to take advantage of the changes in the Arctic, announcing a new fleet of Arctic patrol ships, a research station and a deepwater port.

Clinton said in the interview with CTV that the U.S. government was "beginning to discuss seriously" a dispute over the Northwest Passage, which Canada claims but Washington believes should be considered an international waterway.

"It's only now that we have the attention being paid to the Arctic that it deserves," she said. The passage was free of ice in 2007 for the first time in modern history.

The United States, Russia, Canada and Denmark all have submitted information to a U.N. commission to prove their claims to Arctic underwater territory off their coasts. The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has not ratified the Law of the Seas treaty, but it is being treated as though it had.

Russia raised eyebrows by planting a flag underwater on territory it considers its own at the North Pole in 2007.

The meeting of the Arctic coastal countries came on the eve of a meeting of Group of Eight foreign ministers near Ottawa.