Joseph-Elzéar Bernier, who claimed the entire Arctic Archipelago for Canada 100 years ago, would never have imagined that his claim would remain the foundation of Canada's diplomatic and possibly legal case for Arctic sovereignty in 2009.
To mark the centennial of the claim made on July 1, 1909, Marjolaine Saint-Pierre's fine, well-researched biography, Joseph-Elzear Bernier: Champion of Canadian Arctic Sovereignty (Baraka Books, 2009, $75 hardcover, $39.95 paper), has been translated by William Barr and published in English by Baraka Books in collaboration with the Arctic Institute of North America, University of Calgary.
With Arctic waters being ever more navigable, a burning issue from the early 20th century is back in the headlines early in the 21st. That is why the somewhat forgotten hero, ship-captain and explorer, Joseph-Elzéar Bernier, is so relevant today. Canada's greatest navigator dreamed of conquering the North Pole, but his crowning achievement was no less than to establish Canada's Arctic boundaries. Without Bernier, the geopolitical configuration of the North might be quite different today.
About the author and translator:
Marjolaine Saint-Pierre spent five years researching Joseph-Elzéar Bernier and even more defending his contribution to Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic. Her previous book Saint-Castin, baron français, chef amérindien 1652-1707, obtained the France-Acadie award in 2000.
William Barr is an Arctic historian and senior research associate with the Arctic Institute of North America at the University of Calgary. He has translated 11 books from French, German, and Russian on the Arctic and Antarctic explorers.
Baraka Books:
Baraka Books is a Quebec-based English-language book publisher specialized in creative and political non-fiction, history and historical fiction, and fiction. For more information: www.barakabooks.com
Arctic Institute of North America:
The mission of the Arctic Institute of North America at the University of Calgary is to advance the study of the North American and circumpolar Arctic and to acquire, preserve and disseminate information on physical, environmental and social conditions in the North. For more information www.arctic.ucalgary.ca