Threats to Greenland underscore need for investment in Canada’s Arctic, experts say

With Arctic security under growing international scrutiny, Canadian troops are training in extreme northern conditions. Heather Wright reports.

YELLOWKNIFE – Tucked behind a grey metal fence just steps from the Yellowknife Airport is an outpost of Joint Task Force North, one of the Canadian Armed Forces’ six regional task forces.

It’s here the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) say the task force “...conducts operations in the most unique and challenging environment in Canada.”

On Friday, that challenging environment will have temperatures somewhere around -30 C, which feel like -40 with the windchill.

“These vehicles may be difficult to start,” said Maj. Alexandre Munoz, a public affairs officer with the Joint Task Force North (JTFN) who is among the soldiers completing the “Light on Snow Vehicle Course,” which qualifies service members to operate snowmobiles in the north.

Munoz says the military uses two-stroke vehicles in the Arctic, which can be easier to get going.

“They have a pull cord as well, so we can operate them anywhere,” he said.

The climate is the thread line through all military activity in the Arctic, which is centred here in Yellowknife. Exercises, like the one we joined Friday, are ongoing and a way to both train soldiers and maintain a presence in the north.

“Visibility (and) presence (are) definitely part of our mission here,” Munoz said. “We are covering 40 per cent of Canada’s land mass, 75 per cent of coastlines and four time zones.”

U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland have thrown a spotlight on Arctic security and brought more scrutiny to Canada’s own readiness in the north. The nation’s military presence is considerably smaller than other countries like Russia, the United States and even Norway, which has 15 military facilities in its Arctic territory.

“I think the time has gone where we can just hope to ride the coattails of American efforts in the Arctic. I think we’ve seen how well that’s working out for us,” said Brendan Bell, CEO of the West Kitikmeot Resources Corp., an Inuit-owned company proposing a deep-water port in Gray’s Bay, Nunavut.

“(Prime Minister Mark Carney) probably put it best: ‘If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,’” he added. “And I think as northerners, we feel like we’d be the main course.”

Bell is among the proponents of the federal government providing more investment in northern infrastructure – not just to drive industry, but boost security, as well.

In its fall budget, Ottawa committed $1 billion over four years for Arctic infrastructure, including deepwater ports, airstrips and all-season roads.

“We don’t have a choice but to make these investments,” Bell said. “Canada has lagged significantly behind both our adversaries and our allies, who are interested in this part of the world, so I think we’re left with very, very few options here.”​

As climate change transforms the Arctic, new opportunities are expected to emerge, along with new threats.

“We have to show that we are able to control (the Arctic) and that goes to economic investment,” said Gaëlle Rivard Piché, executive director of the CDA Institute. “It’s really a ‘whole of society’ approach, working with northerners, governments, Indigenous people who live in the region.”

It’s a similar goal of JTFN, which is expected to expand in the coming years – not just in personnel numbers, but in the number of operations they conduct each year throughout the Arctic.

“What we are trying to have in the north is a persistent presence,” said Munoz. “More operations to secure and show our sovereignty.”