let me see if I can sum up where I think you all stand. Miss Cameron of Nova Scotia, Mr. Renault of New Brunswick, Mr. MacGregor of Prince Edward Island, and Mr. Tallman of Newfoundland are of the view that the American ultimatum should be accepted. They feel that the long history of Maritime connection with the United States has forged a bond that is too strong to be broken. More importantly, the substantially lower level of the economy of their provinces, combined with a widespread feeling that they continue to get the short end of the stick from Ottawa, makes them unwilling to risk the effects of American economic sanctions.
“On the other side of the country, Mr. Ramsay of British Columbia feels that his province, with its emphasis on resource industries, has had traditionally close ties with Washington and California, its major trading partners to the south, and that it too has been remote from Central Canada and Ottawa. He feels that to attract economic sanctions by telling the Americans they can’t have the natural gas to which they feel entitled would be sheer folly.
“Premiers Charbonneau of Quebec and Michael Harvey of Ontario, and the premiers of the other western provinces, Mr. Wegeruk of Manitoba, Mr. Lipson of Saskatchewan, and Mr. Andrews of Alberta, all favour flat rejection of the ultimatum. Indeed, Mr. Andrews of Alberta has put forward the strong recommendation that we should tell the United States that unless the ultimatum is withdrawn we will begin a program of counter-sanctions immediately. Specifically, he proposes that we threaten to cut off our current supply of gas and oil to the United States. In my view, this is an unselfish and statesmanlike proposal. Alberta has by far the biggest stake in this situation. Together with Saskatchewan, they already provide vast quantities of gas and oil to the American market. And yet they are prepared to accept the economic consequences of the counter-sanction.”
Andrews, on the Prime Minister’s left, broke in. “Prime Minister, what you say is right. We in Alberta have by far the biggest stake in the counter-sanction. If it goes into effect, our market for oil and gas goes right down the drain, and so does our entire provincial economy. But let me tell you that we are Canadians first, and Albertans second. So far as my government and the people of Alberta are concerned, this is a sacrifice we’re ready to make.”
The Prime Minister paused briefly and then continued. “Well, gentlemen, Miss Cameron, while we seem to be evenly split on the matter of the ultimatum, I take it you are all agreed that we should start to fight back by counter-sanction.”
There was a general murmur of assent.
“Very well, then, I’ll advise the President immediately.”
Consett Head, Melville Island
5:40 p.m., CDT
As they entered the main building of the Polar Gas Study base camp, Magnusson said, “I know there’s a lot riding on the test tomorrow. I hope we don’t let you down, Mr. President.”
Ten members of the staff had gathered in the reception room. After appropriate introductions and a few minutes’ conversation, Magnusson said, “Mr. President, I wonder if I might drag you away from these people and show you the model of our system? I’ve ordered a real Texas steak for you — rare. It should be ready in about fifteen minutes.”
“That sounds fine.” The President nodded, thanked the group, and accompanied Magnusson down a long hall into a briefing room complete with a blackboard, motion picture and slide projectors. At the front of the room were scale models of the experimental under-water under-ice pipeline crossing. Magnusson said, “Sir, if you’d like to sit on that stool, I’ll explain the set-up to you.”
The President dutifully perched on the stool next to the models and said, “Harold, what I really need before you start is a large bourbon and soda. It’s long past that time of day. I’ve got to have something to keep the old pump going.”
Magnusson ordered two bourbon-and-sodas from the canteen bar and then began.
“Please ask me any questions that come to your mind, Mr. President.”
“Sure will.”
“The first model is really a vertical view to scale of the crossing that we have to make.
“The line goes from a pumping station here at Consett Head, east across the Byam channel twelve miles to a landfall at May Cove on the west coast of Byam Martin Island. In fact, we’ve laid two sets of pipe in the water. I’ll explain why in a minute. If we’re successful, we will put together a system that can pick up all the gas on Melville Island and take it straight across to Resolute on Cornwallis. Then the plan is to hook up with a route to the south. We can go from Resolute across to Devon Island to the east, then across the Northwest Passage to Baffin Island, and then down into Northern Quebec and into New York State. The alternative is from Resolute south across the Northwest Passage to Somerset Island, down the Boothia Peninsula and the west coast of Hudson Bay through Ontario to New York State.
“The reason we started off with our experiment between Melville and Byam Martin is that Melville has a bigger volume of gas than any other island in the Canadian Arctic.”
The President said, “Yes, I understand that. I also understand that from 1975 until you came on the scene, several attempts were made to put a metal pipe under the ice, and those experiments were total disasters.”
“Yes, sir, that’s true. What we have had to do is find a system to put a pipe or a series of pipes under the water deep enough down to be out of reach of the moving ice. There’s evidence of ice scouring on the bottom down to depths of 250 feet, and there are pressure ridges which cause formations to a depth of anywhere from thirty to a hundred feet. When we lay pipe under the water we have to do it under the worst conditions in the world. You can get temperatures ranging down to 50° below zero here, and with any kind of a wind the chill factor can go down to 100 or 120 below. Those are temperatures which can kill a man and destroy equipment. Metal becomes brittle, and machinery and pipe can crack and become useless. For a rigid metal pipe, the ice has to be opened in long sections and the pipe has to be contoured exactly to the bottom. It has to be ballasted, not only to get it down as far as we might have to go, which could be up to 2,000 feet in some channel crossings, but because when you get it down there the gas itself has so much lifting power.
“In addition you have to make a trough in the bottom to take the pipe so that if the ice does scrape along the bottom in the shallower areas it won’t rip it up.
“There’s another problem with metal pipe, too. Once you get it down a thousand or two thousand feet, how do you maintain it? Or if you make a mistake, how do you get it back up again for repair? On top of all that, there are other natural hazards. In some of the channels between the islands there are currents which have to be dealt with above the 600-foot level, and of course you have to do much of your work in total darkness during the dead of winter. There’s no sunlight at all here except a bit of twilight around noon. The summer months, July, August and September, are just as bad, because then the ice tends to open, leaving stretches of water. It shifts, but it never goes away.
“So you can see that putting a pipeline beneath the ice is a hundred times more difficult than laying pipe across tundra and permafrost. It’s little wonder that from the beginning of this research work we’ve had many failures and no successes.”
The President nodded his agreement and took a long sip of his bourbon and soda. Magnusson went on.
“One thing I want to stress, Mr. President, is that no matter what we come up with in an operational under-ice pipe, there’s no way that pipe can be used to carry oil. The ecology here is very delicate. Bacteriological activity is virtually non-existent and the amount of wildlife that lives
