BONUS: Canada And Denmark Fight Over An Island with Liquor, Not With Guns

Hi, I'm Rick Barron, your host, and welcome to That's Life, I Swear

Now and then I come across a story that is not only unique but also provides a lesson in life. This story centers around a discussion about an island that began in1973 and recently ended in 2022.

The discussion revolved around a point of disagreement between two nations, Canada and Denmark. What was the disagreement? It had to do with a border line. Did I forget to mention that Canadian Whisky and Schnapps was part of this conversation?

Let's jump into this

Before I start, I like to call out that I'm dedicating this podcast episode to friends in Canada. These good people spread across Canada, West to East. From Squamish, B.C., to Barrie, Ontario, Captain Kirk in Font Hill, Ontario, and yes, even the Bat Girls (you know who you are) in Toronto, this episode is for you. That said, enjoy this little history from a Yank to my fellow Canadian's.

Ok, let’s get to the topic here. The island that’ve I’ve mentioned is Hans Island  which is in the middle of the Kennedy Channel between Greenland and Ellesmere Island. A theoretical line runs in the middle of the strait which goes through the island. Canada and Denmark could not come to terms on Hans Island in 1973 when a border treaty was signed, thus leaving a gap in its border description.

Fast forward almost 50 years.  After challenging who had claim to what, Canada and Denmark finally decided to bury the hatchet. Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod and Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly shook hands and traded gifts of liquor on June 14 in Ottawa after signing an agreement to establish a land border between the two countries on Hans Island.

There is a story about the liquor which I’ll go into later.

I found this story of interest as my curiosity got me as to wonder why all the fuss over this desolate island in the Arctic. Hans Island isn't much of an island. It's the size of four or five football fields, if that, and sits about 600 miles south of the North Pole. The size of the island is about half a square mile.

Look it up on Google Maps. I had to zoom in to see the island…I mean it’s small.

Hans Island was a point of contention between Canada and Denmark for many years. However, it was a rare territorial dispute for Canada because the island sits right in the middle of the international boundary between them and Greenland.

During the many years of the disagreement about who had rights to the island, Canada and Demark often fought [no weapons involved] in very whimsical ways.

Now I mentioned that the two Foreign Ministers exchanged bottles of liquor at the treaty signing. This is where the liquor comes into the story.

When the argument started over ownership, the confrontation soon morphed into was known as The Whisky War, also known as the Liquor Wars. Why was that? Allow me to explain.

Over the past five decades, Danish troops made numerous visits to the island, planting their flag and leaving friendly notes, along with a bottle of Schnapps to stress the country's claim to the island. Now, the Canadians were not to be pushed about. They also made their cameo appearances as well. They would take walks on the island, replacing the Danish liquor with Canadian whisky, sometimes erecting an Inukshuk , a stone marker, and hoisting the maple leaf. Social media online campaigns and even a Canadian call to boycott Danish pastries took place. Hmmm, not sure if I'd go that far. The taking of each country's flags and leaving bottles of liquor continued for almost fifty years. All this almost sounds like a Monty Python movie.

Now I am surprised that my Canadian friends didn't ante up the gifts by leaving bottles of their infamous maple syrup. But that's for another story.

Another funny moment took place when the Canadians took down the Danish flag, and mailed it back to Copenhagen! Wonder if they mailed back the package collect?

As mentioned, this long-running and largely benign diplomatic impasse reached an end.

Canada and Denmark signed an agreement that finally put to rest Arctic marine boundaries and settle the question of Hans Island's ownership. The island was split, with 60 percent of the island going to Denmark and the rest going to Canada. Gotta love the Canadians. They didn't get 50 percent of the island but were content with what was achieved. Diplomacy at its best.

Should you go to Google Maps and do a search on this island, you’ll find that Hans Island isn't an island in the traditional sense. It’s really just a large rock, but as fate would have it, the rock lies smack dab in the middle of the Nares Strait, a 22-mile-wide channel that separates Canada and Greenland.

Now think about this, the rock [aka island] falls within the 12-mile territorial limit of either shore, thus giving both sides to claim it under international law.

What were the odds of that happening? You can't make this stuff up people. Mother Nature did a job here.

Hmmm. Rock, island, rock, island. For some reason Simon and Garfunkel's classic ‘I Am A Rock’ comes to mind. Perhaps this would make the perfect theme song for this story. Sorry, I’m digressing here, but take a listen to the song, I provided the link for you on my website.

Oh, by the way, a geographic tepid, Greenland, is an autonomous territory of Denmark. Bet you didn’t know that did ya? Greenland has its own extensive local government, but it is also part of the Realm of Denmark.

Now while the island is essentially just a huge rock, there are some treasures.

Below the 22-mile Nares Strait, where Hans Island sits, lies oil and gas reserves. While that may sound like a gold mine, you need to know that the resources are too deep and the area too filled with icebergs to make offshore drilling likely. And even if one did, the cost of drilling would make that oil rather expensive.

Another point of debate for both countries revolved around the Inuit’s who live on both sides of the border and know the island as Tartupaluk. Both ministers said the agreement would protect the Inuit’s cross-border hunting and fishing rights and ensure that the new boundary will not prevent travel across Hans Island.

I have to wonder if the Inuit’s took occasional trips to see if there were any bottles of Canadian Whisky and Schnapps left.

A win-win for all

While researching this story, I discovered why reaching a resolution took so long. Part of the problem was the process. Wouldn’t you know it. The process resides with very slow pace of the United Nations’ processes for settling marine boundary issues that are governed by the 1982 Law of the Sea Treaty.

Personally, I think the constant drop-offs of liquor by troops from both countries dragged out the dispute. What do you think?

What can we learn from this story? What’s the take away

The world has seen land disputes before, and I’m sure we’ll see more. At times these international arguments over territory can be ugly affairs.

In late February of 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine because they felt entitled to taking back land they think belongs to them. Over the last few years, China has collectively taken over small islands to build military bases. Now we’re seeing how they’re flexing their military muscle, as they think about taking the island of Taiwan back under their rule one day.

Canada and Denmark’s agreement shows how border disputes can be resolved peacefully, without war. These two countries demonstrated how long-standing international conflicts can be resolved peacefully and by playing by the rules. Violence and turmoil weren’t necessary to find a solution.

As global security is being threatened, it's more important than ever for democracies like Canada and Denmark to work together, alongside Indigenous peoples, to resolve differences in accordance with international law.

I think the Canadian foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, captured the moment best when she said, “It was the friendliest of all wars.”

Melanie provided a note to the Danish Minister with the exchange of the liquor bottles at the treaty signing that read:

My dear friend. In line with the traditional exchange of liquor and notes, I would like to thank you personally for this historic day. As we end the Whisky War, Canada is now closer to Denmark (and Europe) more than ever. Welcome to Canada

The lesson learned here: For countries with land disputes, the best way of contesting ownership would be better served over a dinner party than a battlefield.

One more thing, to my friends in Canada, tomorrow is my birthday, so don’t forget!

Well, there you go. That's life, I swear.

For further information regarding the material covered in this episode, I invite you to visit my website, that you can find on either Apple Podcasts/iTunes or Google Podcasts, for show notes calling out key pieces of content mentioned and the episode transcript.

As always, I thank you for listening.

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