World Notes CANADA

Why on earth would Ottawa want to buy ten nuclear-powered submarines? "If there is going to be somebody's navy in the north," explained Defense Minister Perrin Beatty, "it should be ours." The Canadians are irked that U.S. subs patrol the Arctic passage without permission from Ottawa, which claims the waters as Canadian territory.

To enforce its claim, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's government is weighing the purchase of the submarines (cost: as much as $740 million each) over the next decade -- a hefty order since the annual budget for defense is only $7.4 billion.