Canada, Denmark reach truce on island

OTTAWA — Canada and Denmark called a truce yesterday in a dispute over Hans Island, but neither is renouncing its claim to the wind-swept patch of Arctic rock.

There has been widespread speculation that the two governments may have their eyes on future claims over northern fishing grounds or access to the Northwest Passage, should global warming make the route more viable.

The uninhabited island, the size of several city blocks, sits in the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait between Canada's Ellesmere Island and Greenland, which is controlled by Denmark.

Canada insists the quarrel is not about the surrounding waters, noting the boundaries of the continental shelf between Ellesmere and Greenland were agreed on in 1973.

Canada's defense minister, Bill Graham, rankled Danish officials by making an unannounced visit to Hans Island in July. Canada formally protested the planting of Danish flags on the outcrop in 1984, 1988 and 2004.

Canada's Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew, who met with his Danish counterpart during a U.N. summit over the past week in New York, said yesterday they agreed to keep each other informed about any activities around the tiny island.

However, neither side budged on ownership of the island.