National defence seeks bigger presence in the North

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

Canada’s military command in the North say the Rangers’ ground-breaking patrol of the High Arctic will not be enough to ward off future threats to the country’s sovereignty in the region.

Although they claim the Rangers’ expedition showed the world that Canada owns the region covered by the patrol, military brass argue Canada needs to beef up its means of surveilling traffic in Northern waters in order to, among other things, protect the region’s sensitive environment from oil tankers that could crash and spill their loads in remote areas.

Military officials with Canadian Forces Northern Area, based in Yellowknife, estimate that even with 1,500 Rangers stationed in communities throughout the North, they are unable to keep watch over about half the region – almost one-quarter of Canada.

Lt.-Col. David Wheeler, chief of military staff in the North, told reporters recently at a press conference in Eureka that Canada lacks the means to track marine activity in the North, leaving the door open to unwanted guests such as poorly maintained ships that might pollute the water, and spy submarines.

Wheeler said Canadian Forces plan to fill the surveillance gap by buying unmanned spy planes, and possibly paying a premium to use a commercial satellite space program that would allow the federal Department of National Defence to keep a closer eye on land and water activity in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

Wheeler also confirmed that the military had found research and development funding for a program that would install high-frequency surface-wave radar at each end of the Northwest Passage. He expects that the defence department will build the stations near Tuktoyaktuk and Clyde River within the next 10 years, to monitor activity above and below water .

Wheeler said Rangers, such as the elite crew assembled for the enhanced sovereignty patrol from Resolute to Alert earlier this month, currently provide the bulk of military surveillance done in the North.

“Without patrols like the patrol we’re having, we don’t necessarily have sovereignty here,” Wheeler said while meeting with media at the Eureka weather station on April 6. “Without the Rangers up here, we would not have the footprints in the snow. Without the information they provide… our knowledge… would be very small.”

Without the planned improvements, the Canadian military only has four Twin-Otter planes, known as the 440 Squadron, to provide back-up surveillance for Rangers living in communities throughout the North.

Wheeler said the dearth of military strength in the northern territories, combined with the vast size of the region and lack of infrastructure, leaves the area prone to

hazards such as spy submarines and terrorist traffic.

Referring to residents of the North as the military’s “eyes and ears” in the region, Wheeler said he’s confident communities in the North will report any suspicious people or activity, such as submarine periscopes popping out of the water.

“I’m not sure why a terrorist would come into the North, other than to give them a leapfrog into the South,” he said. “[But] situations are happening. There are people here who shouldn’t be here.”

Military officials expect Canada’s ability to control traffic in the North will become increasingly important as global warming opens up the waterways in the Northwest Passage. Countries like the United States and Japan already challenge Canada’s claim to waters around the country’s northern archipelago, arguing that navigable routes joining the two sides of the Arctic Ocean are international waters.

As the world’s temperatures increase, the Northwest Passage and other areas in the North will likely become easier for ships to sail through. Wheeler said there will be negative consequences if Canada doesn’t increase its surveillance of the North.

He said, without being surveilled, foreign companies might try to exploit fisheries in Canada’s Arctic, and even make a grab at the region’s untapped oil and mineral resources.

“There’s really no threat to us here right now,” Wheeler said of the Ellesmere Island area recently patrolled by the Rangers. “[But] you don’t want someone going into your backyard and taking your oil and digging up your minerals.”

Rangers on the patrol from Resolute to Alert echoed the military chief’s push to protect Canada’s sovereignty over the high Arctic.

Anuga Michael, a 23-year-old Ranger from Pangnirtung who travelled with the group to Eureka, said he went on the trip to help show the world who owns the area.

“This land is Canadian land,” said Michael. “It’s Canada. It’s not anyone else’s.”

However, other Rangers questioned how Canada could claim unique ownership of the area. Donald Ittuksardjuat, a 29-year-old resident of Arctic Bay, said he supported the mission, but added that the concept of sovereignty was foreign to Inuit culture.

“Up here in the North, the land belongs to everybody,” he said before heading to Alert with a large Canadian flag flying at the back of his skidoo. “To me, the land is for everybody.”

In further efforts to paint the North as Canada’s domain, the armed forces will be hosting war games, called Exercise Narwhal, near Pangnirtung in August.

The war simulation, expected to take up to two weeks, will involve the army, navy, and air force, including 200 infantry soldiers, the frigate HMSC Montreal with 220 sailors, five helicopters, and the 440 Squadron of Twin Otters. Defence officials plan to test Unmanned Aerial Vehicles during the simulation, to see if they work well in Arctic conditions.