As long as the US thinks the northwest passage is an international passage then no amount of bases or ships would matter. Canada simply can't win that fight. T

As long as the US thinks the northwest passage is an international passage then no amount of bases or ships would matter. Canada simply can't win that fight. There are just too many ways for US to exert soft pressure on Canada: softwood lumber, NAFTA repeal, extra tariff and transit charges for oil sand output. (admittedly that last one might be a good thing for Earth)