Often times in social gatherings, when discussions turn to climate change and immigration, I asked my fellow conversationalists where they think that the busiest Canadian seaport will be in 50 years’ time. The usual, anticipated responses follow ….Vancouver? Prince Rupert? Montréal? Halifax?…to which, I respond “Good guesses, but all wrong!” The busiest port, I say, in Canada will be Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson’s Bay, an answer which brings raised eyebrows and smiles of mild perplexity. After all, why would anyone be go to Churchill other than to see polar bears? When one considers, Churchill’s location as the northern most seaport of Canada, it is not hard to see why, with a melting Arctic Ocean, it will be one of the most sought-after entry points into North America.
In her well-researched book “Nomad Century, How Climate Migration will Reshape Our World” [Flatiron Books, 2022] Gaia Vince argues convincingly that Churchill with its distinct attraction as a commercial deep-water port in northern Canada will become a key stopping and unloading point for cargo ships coming from Shanghai and Asian ports. This future expansive seaport can potentially connect with Winnipeg, in central Canada, and then, with upgraded railway lines, the shipped goods have immediate access into the heart of the USA. With the Arctic Ocean ice melting, deep-sea cargo ships will have greater accessibility without the danger of harsh winters and impenetrable ice. The first ice-free summer for the Arctic Ocean is expected around 2035 and, in March, 2022, the Arctic, indeed, experienced temperatures at 30°C above the seasonal normal.
Climate change forces us to rethink all of our rooted paradigms, jarring us out of realities we have unreflectively accepted and to which we are accustomed. The boundaries of thought and expectations, the guardrails of previous experience will alter as a result of climatic evolution. When ice-free passages that once made routes inaccessible for centuries are now accessible, such changes will force us to re-evaluate our changing landscape and its consequential population shifts which will not only be pushing individuals from harsher, climatic zones but will counteract with the pull of peoples to new vistas and newly-discovered locales such as Churchill, Manitoba.
