By: Chloe Fine
Canada has gone to war on several occasions since its confederation; however, there is one very unique war that Canada has technically been fighting for thirty-seven years. Charmingly titled by military leaders as "The Whiskey War" between Canada and Denmark was first spurred on by a land dispute. Hans Island is a genuinely minuscule piece of uninhabited land located in the Nares Strait in the middle of the Arctic. Due to rights set out by the UN, which dictates how far from the shore of a country they can establish the coastal rights to, the island is in an area which is claimed by both Canada and Denmark. This technicality was first discovered in 1973 as both countries were working on drafting their coastal borders. Canada and Denmark both asserted their right to the island. Despite negotiation, no resolution could be found, so both parties agreed to come back to this issue at a later date.
This dispute went largely undiscussed, most likely due to the fact that the island does not have any real value either strategically or for the purpose of resources, given that it is essentially an enormous rock. This lack of political disruption regarding the Island continued until 1984, when the Danish minister of Greenland was making a routine visit to the Island. As a friendly joke between the nation's military, he placed the Danish flag and a bottle of brandy on the Island along with a message saying "Welcome to the Danish island" on it for the Canadian military to find while surveying. Finding this exceptionally amusing once alerted to it, the Canadian military organized a trip to the Island in which they replaced the Danish flag with the Canadian flag and took the brandy, replacing it with Canadian whiskey. From this reciprocation, the whiskey wars had begun.
As a part of this running gag, approximately every year for decades now, each country's military visited the Island, changing out each other's flag for their own and leaving behind a bottle of rye from their respective countries. In 2005, Canadians upped the ante by fashioning a metal plaque to the Island in which to plant their flag. This was the last elevation of the rivalry and has not been countered by Denmark. These antics were, although in jest, considered an active war and had not started to be diplomatically resolved until 2018. The two countries created a task force for the purpose of using experts in law, global affairs, Northern affairs, and politics to settle several land disputes between Canada and Denmark, including Hans Island, in accordance with the Ilulissat Declaration. At present, there are no current updates on the task force in motion. It has not been disbanded and still appears to be working towards resolving this issue; however, Hans Island is still contested land.