This is an editorial originally published in Toronto Star. Republished with permission

After years of scientific research at a cost of more than $100 million, no one can accuse Canada of not doing its homework on the claim it submitted to the United Nations last week asserting sovereignty over vast swaths of the Arctic seabed.

Canada is now claiming an area of the Arctic sea floor that includes a stretch from the top of Ellesmere Island along an undersea ridge to the North Pole — and more than 200 kilometres beyond.

Still, making its case to the UN won’t be a slam dunk.

Canada’s claims are contested by Denmark, the United States and — most forcefully — Russia, which has built a military base on an island in the waters of its new Arctic shipping route, complete with anti-ship missile launchers and air defence systems.

But it wasn’t Russia’s aggressive moves in the Arctic that pushed Ottawa’s hand.

The impetus seems to have come courtesy of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo when he threw down the gauntlet and declared Canada’s claim over the Northwest Passage “illegitimate” in a speech he made to the Arctic Council in May.