Armed forces to pour more money into North

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

The Canadian military intends to crank up spending to protect Canadian sovereignty in Nunavut and the rest of the North, says the new commander for the armed forces in the northern territories.

Col. Normand Couturier, who took command of the Canadian Forces Northern Area earlier this month, did not say when the funding boost will come, but said it was certain to help the economy in the region’s remote communities.

“The North is very important to Canadian defence,” Couturier said in an interview on July 12. “I am convinced that the North will be given priority because of the sovereignty issue.”

Couturier expects the federal department of national defence will pour more money into the North after military brass finish their full-scale defence policy review, expected to be released in the fall.

If Ottawa goes ahead with a funding boost for northern military activities, Couturier wants to increase the number of Ranger patrols around certain areas of the North “to make sure that the Canadian flag is shown everywhere… so that there is never any question in any foreigner’s mind that we are not interested in our sovereignty.”

“It is the areas on the fringes that are the most important,” he said, adding that Hans Island, the disputed land mass between Greenland and the northern end of Ellesmere Island, would be on his wish-list of areas for future sovereignty patrols.

Couturier pointed to the federal government’s recent investments in ice-capable military hardware, spy planes and high-tech surveillance technology, as proof that Ottawa is serious about beefing up the armed forces in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

The recent investments include double-hulled ships capable of travelling further north during colder months of the year, which will enable the navy to keep a closer eye on the fringes of the Canadian Arctic. However, the ships lack ice-breaking capabilities that many military experts claim Canada needs to fully protect the country’s borders.

National defence also plans to piggyback on a pilot project called Polar Epsilon, which will put multi-million-dollar satellites in space to survey Canada’s remote areas. Government officials expect the project, financed by the Canadian Space Agency, will be in full swing by 2008.

Further hints of future spending come with the military’s future use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or spy planes, that can look out for unauthorized planes, ships or people with less risk of personnel being injured. National defence will test them during Operation Narwhal, near Panniqtuuq, next month.

Operation Narwhal, a joint simulation involving the army, navy and air force, will be the largest military exercise ever to take place north of the 60th parallel, and carries a $5-million price tag.

Couturier says the military’s new-found interest in the North comes from fear that other countries will try to take advantage of the country’s loosely defended borders, especially as global warming opens more shipping routes through the northern archipelago.

Resources in the North such as diamonds and oil will become more accessible, as the weather heats up, Couturier says, and the Canadian military needs to be able to protect them.

“Some other countries might be tempted to go after those resources unless we exercise our sovereignty,” he said. “These are some of the issues I will be pushing, to make sure [financial] resources are dedicated to the North.”