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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. (Associated Press)

Fresh tensions between Canada and Russia emerged Wednesday after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told a session of his Security Council that his country must be prepared to defend its claims to Arctic mineral riches.

Medvedev predicted climate change will spark further conflicts as ice melts, exposing new areas for exploration.

“Regrettably, we have seen attempts to limit Russia’s access to the exploration and development of the Arctic mineral resources,” he said. “That’s absolutely inadmissible from the legal viewpoint and unfair given our nation’s geographical location and history.”

In a direct response, Canada said it would reassert its sovereignty over the Far North at what is shaping up to be a controversial five-country Arctic summit it is hosting in two weeks in Chelsea, Que., outside Ottawa.

“Canada’s sovereignty over lands, islands and waters of the Canadian Arctic is long-standing, well-established and based on historical title,” Catherine Loubier, spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, told The Canadian Press.

“This government is dedicated to fulfilling the North’s right potential as a healthy, prosperous and secure region within a strong and sovereign Canada. We take our responsibility for the future of the region seriously.”

Loubier noted that Canada has committed to building a “world-class” High Arctic research station, will continue to map “our northern resources and waters,” and is taking action to reduce pollution and increase marine safety.

The government has also announced a new fleet of Arctic patrol ships, a deep water port, and is expanding and re-equipping the Canadian Rangers.

“Foreign ministers from the other Arctic Ocean coastal states are expected to discuss these issues when they meet on March 29 in Chelsea,” she said.

This latest flare-up between Canada and Russia comes as Cannon prepares to host talks with foreign ministers from four other Arctic coastal states — Russia, the United States, Denmark and Norway.

Indeed, all five of those Arctic countries are making claims over parts of the resource-rich region, which experts believe holds one-quarter of Earth’s untapped oil and gas reserves.

Lauren Woolstencroft skis to Paralympic gold on Wednesday. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Standing at the top of the podium never gets ancient for alpine skier Lauren Woolstencroft, just harder.

Woolstencroft earned her second gold medal of the Paralympics on Wednesday by winning the women’s standing giant slalom. She finished 7.57 seconds ahead of silver medallist Andrea Rothfuss of Germany.

“I haven’t had a very excellent World Cup season,” said the 28-year-ancient from North Vancouver. “I lost tonnes of races. That just motivated me to come here.

“It’s a strong field. I’m surprised at the margins [of victory] because it’s been really tight at the World Cup the last few years. I’m pleased I can ski my best here.”

Karolina Wisniewska of Vancouver came close to winning her second medal of the Paralympics but finished fourth.

“It’s my best giant slalom result of the season,” said Wisniewska, 33. “I would have loved to be on the podium again. Fourth place is really excellent for me.”

Meanwhile in wheelchair curling, Canada clinched a spot in the semifinals with an 8-6 win over Germany. The round-robin part of the competition closes Thursday, with the medal round set for Saturday.

Woolstencroft, the first double-gold medallist for Canada at the Games, won the race in two minutes 34.03 seconds. Rothfuss was clocked in 2:41.60, while Slovakia’s Petra Smarzova was third in 2:41.63. Wisniewska finished in 2:44.03. Woolstencroft won Monday’s slalom race, while Wisniewska was third.

Born without legs below the knee and no left arm below the elbow, Woolstencroft has won seven Paralympic medals, including five gold.

Despite her dominating performance Wednesday, she said the medals are not coming any simpler.

“When I won my first one in Salt Lake City, it was unexpected,” said the electrical engineer. “There was no pressure on me going in. There was a lot less pressure on Paralympic athletes in general.

“Now there is a lot more pressure. A lot more time and resources goes into our sport. It takes on a different meaning. We train a lot more. We have a lot more serious program than we did 10 years ago. To perform with that kind of pressure now, eight years later, is fantastic.”

In other events, Jeff Dickson of Sudbury, Ont., was the top Canadian in the men’s slalom finishing 18th.

No Canadian was on the podium at biathlon.

Racers prepare for Thursday

Brian McKeever and his brother Robin chose not to race the 12.5-kilometre event for the visually impaired so they will be rested for Thursday’s 10-kilometre cross-country competition. Robin is also still battling a cold.

Canada has won eight medals at the Paralympics, including three gold, three silver and two bronze.

The goal of the Canadian team is to end in the top three countries in gold medals won.

The Russian Federation leads the medal table with 31, including 10 gold. Germany has 16 medals, nine of them gold while Ukraine has 17 medals, including four gold.

Woolstencroft’s seven medals ties her with Wisniewska for the most Paralympic medals won by a Canadian skier.

“Karolina was on the team years before I started,” said Woolstencroft. “She was fantastic when I started, kind of helping me and showing me the ropes.

“For a while it was just her and I in terms of girls on the team. We spent a huge amount of time together, training and competing. It’s fantastic to be up there with seven medals with her.”

Wisniewska, who was born with cerebral palsy which affects her muscle co-ordination and lower-body strength, has four silver and three bronze but no Paralympic gold.

“If it comes my way I’m going to be thrilled,” Wisniewska said. “I have to keep my expectations realistic. I am just focusing on every race and every day and skiing the best I can.”

Wisniewska started skiing at age five and grew up racing able-bodied skiers. She won the overall World Cup title in 2003 but retired after suffering a concussion in training. In 2007 Wisniewska was the first Paralympian named to the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame.

When Vancouver was awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics, Wisniewska chose to come out of retirement so she could compete in a Paralympics on home soil.

“It was a very hard choice because I knew exactly what was involved,” she said. “I am glad I made it. It was the right choice.”

Joggers make their way through Majors Hill Park in downtown Ottawa on Wednesday, when temperatures hit a high of 16 C. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Many Canadians loved the warmest St. Patrick’s Day ever Wednesday, with many places in the country logging record high temperatures with spring still officially a week away.

In Halifax, Fredericton and Montreal the temperature reached 14 C, while Ottawa basked in 16 C, and folks in Rosetown, Sask., loved 15 C weather. Island Lake, Man., only needed to reach 7 C to set a new all-time high.

Toronto loved a balmy 18 C, but it wasn’t enough to beat the 1945 record high of 19.4 C.

The warmest March on record in many places so far, following an unusually warm winter, is all thanks to the climate pattern called El Nino, according to David Phillips of Environment Canada.

“Since the first of March, many areas in Canada are showing melting temperatures rather than freezing. This is not even maple syrup weather, which is plus-four, minus-four,” he said. “We’re seeing double digit temperatures … record temperatures across the country.”

But those temperatures are making havoc in some parts of the country.

In northern Manitoba, truck drivers are rushing to deliver food and supplies to remote communities cut off by the melting snow.

“We’d have guys that would literally go there, drop off, and come back and catch four hours of sleep and go right back out again,” said Mark Kohaykewych.

In Sudbury, wildlife biologist Joseph Hamr would normally be out in the woods this time of year placing collars on bears about to come out of hibernation, so they can be tracked through the year. This year, the bears are already out of their dens, weeks early.

“It’s quite unusual. Normally bears would come out of their dens … anytime from the beginning to mid-April. It would be the large males that would come out first and the females with their cubs would come out later,” said Hamr.

The warm, dry weather has already contributed to several grass fires, including one just north of Halifax that ruined a trailer home.

The record warm trend will likely continue through the spring and summer, according to Phillips.

“We may see wildfires burning across the country, not just in British Columbia. And of course, water levels, irrigation, sport fishing, power production, [will] all [be] affected because we had this unusually warm and dry winter.”