The importance of Canada's Arctic

First of all, past explorations of the Canadian Arctic were quests for information. This is particularly true for both the Franklin and Canadian Arctic expeditions. Although unsuccessful, the Franklin expedition sought to travel the Northwest Passage. Transit of the passage would have allowed ships to navigate from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and vice versa. At the time, such a route had little commercial value; hence, it was not motivated by economic reasons. Conversely, the expedition was also expected to conduct a variety of zoological, botanical, magnetic, and geological surveys. Indeed, the trip was in the hopes of yielding scientific and geographical insight on the, at the time, mysterious north. Likewise, the Canadian Arctic Expedition (CAE) also had objectives for discovery. More successful than Franklin’s expedition, Stefansson and his crew discovered new land. The expedition expanded Canadian territory by finding the Brock, Borden, Meighan and Mackenzie King Islands. As well as mapping unknown land, the CAE corrected inaccuracies in maps drawn prior expeditions. The contribution of the Canadian Arctic Expedition is not limited to cartography. The members retrieved a collection of artefacts and specimens that led to 16 volumes, in domains ranging from geology to biodiversity, based on their findings. Thus, past expeditions of the Arctic contributed to general science and were in the spirit of discovery.