Arctic security is part of all three of Canada’s major federal party leaders’ platforms. From left, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to reporters in Iqaluit on February 10, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks at a news conference in the Nunavut capital on March 16, and Liberal Leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks in Iqaluit on March 18. Source: Nunatsiaq News, file photos by Arty Sarkisian and Jeff Pelletier
Arctic security is part of all three of Canada’s major federal party leaders’ platforms.
Arctic security and sovereignty are shaping up as key issues for the April 28 federal election.
For years, the Arctic has been an “afterthought” for Ottawa, Premier P.J. Akeeagok told delegates at the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit on April 8.
To give the politicians there a bit of an escape clause—it’s ferociously expensive, Ken Coates, a senior policy fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said of infrastructure developments in the Arctic, in an interview with Nunatsiaq News.
With three major parties pitching military expansion in the Arctic as part of their election campaigns, making those plans a reality would take consultations, environmental assessments, a lot of money and a comprehensive strategy.
‘Arm and a leg, 32 teeth and your hair’
Canada needs to address the gap in the Canadian Armed Forces’ “strategic direction” and create clear objectives in the region, according to the Department of National Defence’s evaluation of the country’s Arctic operations, declassified in October 2024.
The Liberal government announced its Arctic defence strategy in April 2024, with total funds allocated to reach $81.1 billion over 25 years.
That’s 16 times higher than Nunavut’s gross domestic product and more than twice as large as the total budget of both the federal Department of National Defence and Global Affairs Canada in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
However, the Canadian Armed Forces “may not be making the appropriate investments” as there is no “well-understood, common perception of [the Arctic’s] future role and the future threats it faces,” the evaluation said.
Even with an $81.1-billion boost, there will still be “gaps” in Arctic defence as there is a “lack of clear objectives,” the evaluation said, noting the Canadian Armed Forces don’t have a “fulsome understanding” of its Arctic infrastructure that is scattered across the vast territory.
As well, the condition of the existing Arctic military infrastructure is below the national average, with 81 per cent of it over 30 years old and 38 per cent over 50 years old. Without repairs, that infrastructure will move to the “rust out” stage, the evaluation said.
“By the way, how’s your water supply? Food? Airports? Housing? Can you care for an infusion of large numbers of people?” Coates said, adding that any sort of big military projects would require significant investments into civilian infrastructure to accommodate the military personnel.
If you decide to do something in the Arctic, it’s gonna cost you an arm and a leg, 32 teeth and your hair, he said.
‘Advice from the Inuit of Canada to all the major parties’
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed, right, and Premier P.J. Akeeagok speak during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Iqaluit on March 18. Source: Nunatsiaq News, Daron Letts
After Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Iqaluit in March, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed said the prime minister “gets it,” talking about the relationship between Inuit and the federal government.
Obed wasn’t so kind to other federal leaders.
He said governments and “aspiring leaders” should recognize the role of Inuit self-determination, and he didn’t feel that that was the case with everyone.
If any political party wants to come to Inuit Nunangat and make announcements, it’s within their best interest to work through Inuit rights holders and at least have a conversation, he said after Carney’s announcement.
Obed didn’t specify which party he was referring to.
Akeeagok made a statement in February criticizing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s approach, after Poilievre pledged to build a military base in Iqaluit.
Akeeagok asked for “explicit recognition” from Poilievre that all projects in the North will be developed in partnership with northerners and reflect their “rights, needs, and perspectives.”
“Like any other federal department, National Defence has a “legal duty” to consult with Inuit organizations before going through with any infrastructure projects and is currently “building relationships with Nunavut Inuit” through Inuit organizations,” said Kened Sadiku, spokesperson for the Department of National Defence, in an email to Nunatsiaq News.
The consultations include “proactive engagement, to map out both potential negative impacts as well as benefits to communities where possible,” Sadiku said.
New military infrastructure also has to go through an assessment with the Nunavut Impact Review Board, which under the Nunavut Agreement is mandated to assess potential environmental impacts of any proposed development in Nunavut and has the authority to recommend they be approved or rejected by governments.
Sadiku said the Defence Department will meet “all applicable permits and authorizations, such as those required by the Nunavut Impact Review Board.”
’If it’s a question of national defence, you do what you need to do’
Pierre Leblanc, a retired colonel and former commander of the Canadian Forces’ northern area, says the risk of a military emergency that would involve the Arctic is escalating. Source: Arctic Security Consultants
An increasingly hostile United States under President Donald Trump’s administration, Russia’s northern military investments and China’s “near-Arctic state” ambitions are bringing international tensions to the Polar region.
“If it’s a question of national defence, you do what you need to do,” said retired Col. Pierre Leblanc, a commander of the Canadian Forces Northern Area from 1995 to 2000.
He said if the situation escalates enough, the Canadian government could invoke clauses of the National Defence Act that would give it the right to skip consultation and assessments.
“We’ll fire artillery, we’ll fire missiles, we’ll burn a lot of fuel. There’s no time to do an environmental assessment, right?” Leblanc said. “Canada is not at that stage yet.”
“We’re getting close to that point in my mind, if the situation continues to deteriorate,” Leblanc concluded.
Source: Nunatsiaq News