Military hopeful new Arctic port will open in 2022, but 'significant' uncertainty remains
The Canadian military says there are no guarantees that its long-delayed Arctic naval station will finally open next year, prompting defence critics to call the ongoing construction delays confounding and dangerous.
The best-case scenario would see the Nanisivik Naval Station on Baffin Island completed in September and ready to begin operations in summer 2022, approximately 15 years after the federal government announced the project.
“However, there remains significant schedule uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic and how this may impact the 2021 construction season in the Arctic,” said a National Defence spokesperson who confirmed the construction timeline with CTV News.
But the pandemic can’t account for the years of delays the Arctic refuelling station has faced since blowing its initial delivery date in 2013.
‘HARD TO GET OUR HEADS AROUND’
Former prime minister Stephen Harper announced plans to build the deep-water port on a former Nunavut mine site in 2007, coinciding with the announcement that Canada would build up to eight Arctic and offshore patrol vessels for the military.
While the Navy welcomed the first patrol vessel into service in late June, the ship’s Arctic resupply port is still at least a year away from opening, leaving the ship without a domestic resupply station in the Far North.
Instead, the newly commissioned HMCS Harry DeWolf will likely have to rely on Greenland to refuel for Arctic excursions until the Nanisivik facility is ready, according to one defence analyst.
“At this point, this project is a little confounding,” said David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. “We’ve been at it for 15 years, yet it’s still not open. That’s kind of hard to get our heads around.”
It’s especially confounding, Perry said, given that the project is being constructed on existing port infrastructure and has been scaled down dramatically since its original design.
Gone are the airstrip and the year-round site facilities from the initial plan. The station will instead consist of a jetty, a helicopter pad, fuel storage tanks, a wharf operator’s shelter, an unheated warehouse and a site office, according to the defence department.
The entire facility will be staffed by between four and six people during its seasonal operating window of July through October.
‘NAIVE AND DANGEROUS APPROACH TO ARCTIC SOVEREIGNTY’
Canada's struggle to get even a small resupply station up and running draws a clear contrast with the country’s Arctic rivals, according to Conservative defence critic James Bezan.
“The Russian government is opening military bases in the Arctic and the Chinese Communist regime is expanding its Arctic naval fleet beyond the capabilities of Canada and the United States combined,” said Bezan, who co-chairs the House of Commons defence committee, in an email.
Bezan slammed the federal government’s “naïve and dangerous approach to Arctic sovereignty,” accusing the government of mismanaging the Nanisivik project, which he says remains vital to Canada’s security in the Far North.
The difficulties with the Nanisivik project send the wrong message about Canada’s larger commitment to continental security, Perry said, and signal more trouble ahead as Canada and the United States work towards a modernized NORAD defence pact.
“Other countries have invested very big sums of money in lots of different places in their own backyard and done so much, much, much more quickly,” the defence analyst said.
“If we’re thinking about the message that this would be sending to somebody else – Russia, in particular, but also our own allies, the Americans, other NATO allies that have interests in the Arctic – I would think that this sends a particular message about how Canada prioritizes these kinds of investments in the North,” Perry said.
“If it has taken 15 years to get a much-scaled-down version of the Nanisivik deep-water port not-yet built – and I guess fingers-crossed for September – I really do wonder how fast we’ll be able to build anything that we need for a modernized NORAD command to be able to properly defend the continent,” he added.
The latest cost estimate for the Nanisivik naval station is $130 million before taxes, according to National Defence.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.