The trip started in Ottawa with stops in Iqaluit, Pond Inlet, Resolute Bay, Eureka, Kugluktuk, Inuvik, Dawson City, Whitehorse, Fort Simpson, Yellowknife, Churchill, Moosonee then back to Ottawa.
Ambassador Jacobson blogged about his northern trip here. Excerpt below:
June 18, 2011: Resolute Bay (74 degrees North)Active links added above. Read the whole thing here.
The first thing I have to say about Resolute is that it has my favorite name of any city in the world. What could be better than to say you were from Resolute? And since the population is 250, not many people can say that. The second thing I’ll say is that the place has a special meaning to many Americans. It is named after a British naval exploring ship, the HMS Resolute, which explored Resolute Bay in search of the Northwest Passage in the mid-19th century. In the winter of 1852, Resolute became beset in the ice and the crew was stranded for three years before being rescued. Several years later American whalers saw the HMS Resolute floating in the open waters. They sailed it to safety whereupon the United States refurbished her and gave her back to England. When the ship was finally decommissioned, Queen Victoria had a desk made of the ship’s timbers and gave it as a gift to the United States in appreciation for the ship’s rescue. Today the so-called “Resolute Desk” sits in the Oval Office and is used by the President of the United States. Some people have seen the Resolute Desk. Not too many have seen Resolute. I’m one of the very few who have seen both.
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