"Canadians with long memories will recall the nationwide furor that arose in 1969 when the U.S. supertanker Manhattan sailed through the Northwest Passage without seeking Ottawa's permission. In 1985, the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Side made a similar trip without telling Ottawa.

And in 1987 American authorities released stunning photographs of three U.S. nuclear-powered submarines surfacing through the ice at the North Pole."