OTTAWA, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- So the North Pole is Canadian, eh? That's the stand the Canadian government is preparing to take, Foreign Minister John Baird said Monday.
Baird and Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq laid out Canada's claim to the extended continental shelf in the arctic at a news conference in Ottawa, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
"We have asked our officials and scientists to do additional work and necessary work to ensure that a submission for the full extent of the continental shelf in the arctic includes Canada's claim to the North Pole," Baird said.
Canada has submitted its scientific claims to the Atlantic and arctic seabeds of the extended continental shelf to a U.N. commission. Canada's claims do not include any territory in the Pacific, the CBC said.
"Fundamentally, we are drawing the last lines of Canada. We are defending our sovereignty," Aglukkaq said.
The North Pole is about 508 miles north of Alert, Nunavut, the world's northernmost settlement and home to a Canadian military station and Environment Canada station, the CBC noted, adding Russia also has claimed dibs to the pole region.
