Canadian Navy and Coast Guard members
A naval expedition including the Royal Canadian Navy will soon travel through the Northwest Passage in search of the doomed Franklin Expedition, but also to reinforce Canada's claims to the Arctic.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper set sail for the Arctic Passage Saturday night from Pont Inlet, Nunavut.
His trip is largely symbolic and part of his six-day Northern Tour, which ends Tuesday.
He visited the Northern Passage in advance of the scientists, Canadian Navy and Coast Guard members as well as the adventurers who will set sail this week in search of Franklin.
The Sir John Franklin Expedition sailed to the High Arctic in 1845 in order to find a way to travel its icy waters. They thought they could find a shipping route to Asia, instead they got trapped and more than 100 men - including Franklin - perished.
Starting this week, members of the 2014 Victoria Strait Expedition - the largest flotilla to sail the Passage since the time of Franklin - will try and find Franklin and his ships' remains, but also to map the seabed and study the effects of climate change.
Another important point of the voyage is to maintain a presence in the Arctic, which will reinforce Canada's territorial claim to the areas surrounding the North Pole.
"If you don't use it you lose it," mused John Geiger, CEO of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, which is taking part in the Expedition.