{"id":618833,"date":"2026-04-21T13:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/618833\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:03:09","slug":"despite-carneys-vow-to-go-it-alone-in-the-arctic-canada-u-s-military-ties-remain-unchanged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/618833\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite Carney\u2019s vow to go it alone in the Arctic, Canada-U.S. military ties remain unchanged"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Members of 41 Canadian Brigade Group patrol on skis as Canadian Armed Forces deploy to ‘Operation Nanook-Nunalivut,’ a yearly series of drills designed to highlight the military’s ability to defend the Canadian Arctic, in Yellowknife on Feb. 16.Carlos Osorio\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Over the past three months, Canadian soldiers conducted a more than 5,000-kilometre snowmobile patrol in extreme Arctic conditions travelling from Inuvik, Northwest Territories to Churchill, Manitoba, braving blizzards and minus-60 degree Celsius temperatures in military exercises designed to prepare for a foreign threat \u2013 and demonstrate Canada\u2019s ability to take care of itself.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a tall order. The political climate has changed since U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated threats to make Canada an American state, take control of Greenland and withdraw from NATO, but the harsh realities of operating in Canada\u2019s frozen north have not.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are Canadians up here defending [the country] at all times of the day,\u201d said Travis Hanes, a commanding officer of the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, a special unit of the Canadian Armed Forces\u2019 reserve. \u201cThey\u2019re stretching their abilities across some of the most inhospitable terrain and climate that you can possibly imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spoke to Reuters while recovering from a frostbitten nose after weeks of being on the snowmobile patrol.<\/p>\n

To Hanes and many of his fellow Rangers, the idea that any foreign power might challenge Canada\u2019s sovereignty in a region that is about 40 per cent the size of continental Europe is baffling. \u201cWe are the landowners and it\u2019s hard to see how someone thinks it could be taken away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Canadian soldiers recently conducted a massive snowmobile patrol in extreme Arctic conditions as part of military exercises designed to prepare for a foreign threat \u2013 and demonstrate Canada\u2019s ability to defend itself.<\/p>\n

Reuters<\/p>\n

NATO members Canada and the United States have worked together for decades in the Arctic. They officially formed NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, in 1958 because neither country could independently respond to a threat by the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s jibes about making Canada the 51st U.S. state and his growing tensions with NATO, only heightened by the U.S. war in Iran, have prompted Canadians to rethink their reliance on their southern neighbour.<\/p>\n

Canada to spend nearly $35-billion to fortify North, assert sovereignty<\/a><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to ensure that Canada can protect the Arctic without any outside help. As he unveiled a new plan last month detailing how Canada would spend $35-billion reinforcing its military in the far north, Carney said Canada was now taking \u201cfull responsibility\u201d for its Arctic sovereignty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will no longer depend on any one nation,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n

In interviews with nearly two dozen people including Canadian military leaders in the Arctic, government ministers, diplomats, analysts and serving members of the armed forces during a nine-day trip to the Arctic, Reuters found that despite the prime minister\u2019s pledge, the deep ties between the Canadian and American militaries remain unchanged and the challenges to defending the Arctic are formidable. Not only is it highly unlikely that Canada could be completely self-reliant, but the U.S. too depends on Canada for its own security.<\/p>\n

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Prime Minister Mark Carney greets a member of the Canadian Armed Forces as he visits the Royal Canadian Air Force 440 Transport Squadron in Yellowknife on March 12.Carlos Osorio\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Skis, planes and snowmobiles<\/p>\n

During the months-long exercises, approximately 1,300 members of the Canadian Armed Forces conducted patrols on skis, practised landing planes on the frozen Arctic Ocean and transported artillery to the most northern point ever in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. It was the largest number of Canadian Armed Forces involved since the exercise began in 2007; the snowmobile patrol finished last week in Churchill, Manitoba.<\/p>\n

A few observers and participants were present from the armed forces of the United States, Greenland, Belgium and France, but it was overwhelmingly a Canadian affair.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s foreign affairs minister Anita Anand told Reuters the government was moving as quickly as possible to make sure Canada can assume full responsibility for defending its Arctic, but did not offer a timeline.<\/p>\n

In Canada\u2019s far north, some fret Carney\u2019s military plan could overshadow health, education needs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe gravest threat to Canada \u2026 comes from the increased movement of Russian infrastructure further and further north towards the Arctic Circle,\u201d she said, adding that the entire geopolitical landscape has become \u201cmuch more volatile.\u201d She said working with the U.S. on the security and defence of North America via NORAD remains \u201cfundamental.\u201d<\/p>\n

A senior White House official said the U.S. and its allies would continue to ensure the Arctic remains \u201cfree and open for peaceful purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome Canada\u2019s efforts to take responsibility for securing its own territory,\u201d the official said in an e-mail.<\/p>\n

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Members of 41 Canadian Brigade Group watch a signal fire during an annual series of drills in Yellowknife on Feb. 15.Carlos Osorio\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The Russian foreign ministry has said repeatedly that Moscow is doing its best to maintain peace and stability in the region and has cast blame elsewhere for increased militarization in the Arctic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWestern countries have transformed the Arctic into an area of geopolitical rivalry,\u201d said Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry in March. \u201cThis turn of events is not in Russia\u2019s interests. We are open to mutually respectful dialogue with our foreign partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Whitney Lackenbauer, an Arctic expert at Trent University in Peterborough, said neither the U.S. nor Canada have the capability alone to monitor the vast Canadian Arctic, which comprises roughly 4 million square kilometres and more than 36,000 islands.<\/p>\n

Opinion: Speed is the new sovereignty in the Arctic<\/a><\/p>\n

Brigadier-General Daniel Riviere, Commander of Canada\u2019s Joint Task Force North, said this year\u2019s military exercises proved the military has the ability to move specialized weapons and equipment that might be needed in the unlikely possibility of a land attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to be prepared for the worst,\u201d Riviere told Reuters from his base in Yellowknife, where Canada\u2019s Arctic defences are headquartered.<\/p>\n

Still, Riviere emphasized that Canada\u2019s military partnership with the U.S. is critical, saying Canadian Armed Forces stand \u201cshoulder to shoulder\u201d with American soldiers.<\/p>\n

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A tent belonging to the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group under aurora borealis in Yellowknife on Feb. 18.Carlos Osorio\/Reuters<\/p>\n

On the coastline, Canadian authorities have \u201cfar more presence in Arctic waters\u201d compared to the Americans, according to Neil O\u2019Rourke, Director General for Fleet and Maritime Services at Canada\u2019s Coast Guard. He said Canadian icebreakers are regularly used to escort U.S. ships heading to the Arctic and pointed out that Canada has the world\u2019s second-biggest fleet of icebreakers, after Russia.<\/p>\n

In other areas, Canada lags. Across the country, there are 47 radar sites that form the North Warning System, a network from western Yukon to Labrador.<\/p>\n

Pierre Leblanc, a former commander of the Canadian forces in the north, said the system is increasingly obsolete and questioned if Canada would have the ability to independently respond if any serious threats were picked up.<\/p>\n

The sites are remotely monitored by NORAD and the Canadian military but are managed by Nasittuq, a private Canadian company that won a $592-million government contract in 2022.<\/p>\n

Canadian military beats recruitment target after 1,400 permanent residents sign up<\/a><\/p>\n

Nasittuq described the radar network as \u201ca legacy system\u201d in an e-mail and acknowledged that it was \u201caging and limited against modern threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Cambridge Bay site, which also serves as a logistics centre, there are no military staff, but a gift store selling branded radar system merchandise.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada and the U.S. need each other because there\u2019s lots of gaps in the north,\u201d said Troy Bouffard, a former Arctic adviser to U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski who represents Alaska. Washington depends on Canada to provide intelligence about potential threats in the Arctic, and the strategically located region also serves as a buffer zone between the U.S. and adversaries like Russia, China and Iran, Bouffard said.<\/p>\n

Much of the airport and radar infrastructure across the Canadian Arctic was conceived, built and paid for by the U.S. during the Cold War. After years of underfunding its defences in the Arctic, and following numerous complaints by Trump, Canada hit the NATO target of spending 2 per cent of its GDP on defence last year.<\/p>\n

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Members of the Arctic Response Company Group in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut on Feb. 19.Carlos Osorio\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Bigger problems<\/p>\n

Evan Bloom, a former U.S. diplomat who focused on the Arctic, said that despite bellicose statements from Trump, the working relationship between Canada and the U.S. in the far north remains largely unchanged.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia is carrying out this hybrid warfare that is a threat to Western democracies and China is now also co-operating more militarily with Russia,\u201d he said. \u201cThose are bigger threats than the relationship problems Canada and the U.S. are having.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, for example, NORAD scrambled a half dozen Canadian and U.S. fighters to intercept two Russian airplanes that nearly entered Canadian airspace, said Kevin Knight, head of intelligence for Canada\u2019s Joint Task Force North.<\/p>\n

Canada and its allies are prepared to defend the Arctic, Carney says<\/a><\/p>\n

Knight said the incident was notable for how close Russian aircraft came to Canadian airspace.<\/p>\n

Major Matt Wookey, a pilot with the Canadian Air Force who practised landing a Twin Otter plane on frozen Arctic sea ice, said flying there was different to almost anywhere else in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is just snow and drifts, and it all looks the same, even the shoreline,\u201d Wookey said. \u201cNothing is built to properly function when the thermometer goes below minus 40, including humans.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Canadian Rangers from 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group ride in convoy across the sea ice as they make their way from Cambridge Bay to Gjoa Haven in Nunavut on March 18.Carlos Osorio\/Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Members of 41 Canadian Brigade Group patrol on skis as Canadian Armed Forces…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-618833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-ca","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-news","39":"tag-northwest-territories","40":"tag-nova-scotia","41":"tag-nunavut","42":"tag-ontario","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-travel","53":"tag-trudeau","54":"tag-us-news","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}