It’s not always easy hoisting a flag on Hans Island. The Canadians even had to bring along their own rocks to weigh down the foot of the mast. But then nothing could stand in the way of the success of operation “Frozen Beaver” — at least from a Canadian perspective.
It was last July when Canadian soldiers raised the maple leaf banner over the tiny isle between Canada’s Ellesmere Island and Greenland. Not long after that, Canada’s Defense Minister Bill Graham flew in by helicopter to proclaim that Hans Island will always remain Canadian. The provocation worked: Denmark promptly cabled a note of protest to Ottawa.
The diplomatic spat marked the current highpoint of a … More