The operation of a commercial shipping route through the Northwest Passage - a 1450 kilometre marine corridor linking Baffin Bay to the Beaufort Sea - has been a recurring dream of traders since the late fifteenth century. It is now fast becoming a practical possibility with the recent discoveries of hydrocarbon and other mineral resources. A consideration of the problems this will raise is urgently necessary. The Canadian Northern Waters Project, at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, has therefore initiated a four-year programme to investigate the feasibility of expanded arctic shipping and...