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Part 2: Sharing the Shelf

Sometime in the next two weeks, France is expected to lay an official claim to a larger portion of the continental shelf off the east coast of Canada. The part of the shelf in question could turn out to be rich in oil and natural gas reserves. And that would be a boon to the 6,500 people who live on St. Pierre and Miquelon, two tiny islands — and French territories — off the south coast of Newfoundland. The fishing business there has gone bust. And the islands’ residents hope that an expanded territorial claim might result in an offshore oil boom. France has until May 13th to make a claim, or else it will lose the right to do so forever.

The CBC’s Marie Wadden prepared a documentary about the prelude to the dispute. It’s called Sharing The Shelf.

And for a look at how Canada might respond to a claim from France, we were joined by Don McRae. He is the Hyman Soloway Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa. He’s also the author of Canadian Oceans Policy: National Strategies and the New Law of the Sea. He was in Ottawa.