Is Canada Too N"ice"?

I am not a journalist, a scientist, or a conspiracy theorist, however, as a Canadian citizen who is fiercely loyal to this beautiful country, I am deeply concerned with the contents of these two articles (below)I read on our Arctic Northwest Passage.
As part of Harper's 2006 campaign promise, he pledged to defend Canada's Arctic sovereignty, yet in reading the most recent article, I find that Canada has been, as usual, rather unprogressive in establishing our jurisdiction on our Canadian passageway.
It states that: "Russia, is currently trying to extend its 200 nautical mile limit almost up to the Pole itself, to claim the vast mineral and energy resources many feel lie underneath the Arctic ice. To plant an actual Russian flag, in a titanium capsule, at the base of the North Pole, 4,200 meters below sea level." Sounding a little scary yet?
"The Canadian government says the jurisdiction is clear — they're Canadian waters. But the U.S. and some other countries, especially now Russia, don't agree. They see the Northwest Passage as an international strait that any ship should be free to transit. And increasingly, they are seeing the Arctic seabed as a resource to be carved up among certain northern nations."
Now, to illustrate why International corporations would be interested, the second article explains the rate in which the Arctic ice is melting. Scientists from Environment Canada are showing the ice to be melting by 70,000 sq km/year, which is equivalent of Lake Superior!
It is a fact, that worldwide corporations have recently invested billions of dollars in ice navigating ships.
Our foreign minister, does not seem to be too concerned with these little tidbits, and I am left to wonder, if we/they are going to wake up any time soon, and loudly state our dominion and blatantly leave our scent on this precious territory to protect it and ourselves, before it can be left for International interpretation.
To quote from our National Anthem, as did one of the articles:
"The true north strong and free"
......lets hope so.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/cdnmilitary/arctic.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/northwest-passage/