Question Period Note: CANADIAN ARMED FORCES ACTIVITIES IN THE ARCTIC

• What is Canada doing to face an increasingly adversarial Russia in the Arctic?

• This Government is enhancing the ability of the Canadian Armed Forces to operate in a changing Arctic security environment.
• That is why we are acquiring six new Arctic and Offshore Patrol ships, two of which are currently undergoing sea trials.
• National Defence is also committed to acquiring next generation surveillance aircrafts and remotely piloted systems to expand our Arctic capabilities.
• The Canadian Armed Forces will continue to maintain a persistent and active presence in the North through regular operations.
• This includes working with the Canadian Rangers and deepening our relations with Indigenous communities at the heart of Canada’s North.

If pressed on the North Warning System
* Canada remains committed to working with the United States, including through NORAD, to meet current and emerging threats to North America.
* This means collaborating on the development of technologies to improve Arctic surveillance, including the renewal of the North Warning System.
* National Defence is also investing more than $100 million in the All Domain Situational Awareness Science and Technology Program.
* This will produce innovative solutions to surveillance challenges in the North and improve continental defence.

BACKGROUND
Operations in the North

• Canada’s operations in the North include:

  • OP BOXTOP: The Bi-annual resupply of Canadian Forces Station Alert and Fort Eureka.

  • OP LIMPID: The routine, and contingency, domestic surveillance and control in Canada’s air, maritime, land, and space domains.

  • OP NANOOK: A signature Arctic training operation, reinforces the Canadian Armed Forces as a key partner and expert in Arctic safety, security, and defence. OP NANOOK is the overarching operation which is composed of four annual sub-components, which are:

    • OP NANOOK-NUNALIVUT: A capability-building exercise conducted in the High Arctic that integrates multinational partners in a joint land exercise.

      • OP NANOOK-NUNAKPUT: A Canadian Armed Forces-led exercise which integrates Government of Canada departments and agencies in patrols supported by the Canadian Rangers.

      • OP NANOOK-TATIGIIT: A Canadian Armed Forces-led exercise which engages territorial and federal partners to enhance coordination of responses and capabilities.

      • Op NANOOK-TUUGALIK: Multinational naval exercise in Eastern and Central Arctic for presence and domain awareness along the North West Passage.

  • OP NEVUS: An annual operation to perform maintenance on the High Arctic Data Communications System.

Canadian Armed Forces Capabilities in the Arctic

• Modernization of the Canadian Armed Forces capabilities in the Arctic include:

  • acquiring six new Arctic and Offshore Patrol ships;
  • supporting the modernization of the Inuvik Airport runway to, among other things, improve military aircraft landing systems.

• In Strong, Secured, Engaged, National Defence committed to:

  • acquiring next generation surveillance aircraft;
  • acquiring remotely piloted systems for use in the Arctic;
  • acquiring a number of all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, and larger tracked vehicles optimized for use in the Arctic.

North Warning System

• The North Warning System is a key NORAD capability and constitutes a chain of radar sites across northern Canada and Alaska established to detect and enable an early response to potential threats to North America approaching from the north. The North Warning System is expected to reach the end of its original estimated operational life as early as 2025.

• Through Strong, Secure, Engaged the Government committed to collaborate with the United States on the development of new technologies to improve Arctic surveillance and control, including the renewal of the North Warning System.

• National Defence is investing more than $100 million in the All Domain Situational Awareness (ADSA) Science and Technology Program. This will allow National Defence to identify, assess, and develop technologies to support potential surveillance solutions for enhanced domain awareness of air, maritime surface, and sub-surface approaches to Canada, particularly in the Arctic.

• Canada and the United State established the Bi-National Steering Group, whose primary function is to facilitate the governance of a replacement capability for the North Warning System.

• Canada is also working with the United States on the first-ever bi-national Northern Approaches Surveillance Analysis of Alternatives, studying innovative technological solution to airspace surveillance.

Canadian Rangers

• The Canadian Rangers are a subcomponent of the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve. They provide patrols and detachments in sparsely settled northern, coastal and isolated areas of Canada that cannot be covered by other parts of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Arctic and Northern Policy Framework

• On 10 September 2019, Canada’s Minister of Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs announced the release of the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework. This new framework is intended to be the long-term vision for federal activities in the Canadian and circumpolar Arctic through to 2030 and includes the security challenges and risks faced by Canada in the Arctic. The framework is consistent with Strong Secured, Engaged.

RECENT PARLIAMENTARY INTEREST

• During the December 9, 2019 Committee of the Whole regarding the Supplementary Estimates (A), Conservative Party Defence critic James Bezan showed interest in the Government of Canada’s plans to defend the Canadian Arctic territory, including plans to upgrade the North Warning System.

• In March 2019, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development tabled a report on Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic. Recommendations related to National Defence included issues related to:

  • defence spending and Northern communities;
  • NORAD modernization;
  • meeting search and rescue needs;
  • updating the North Warning System; and
  • assessing Russia’s military intentions in the Arctic.

RECENT MEDIA INTEREST

• In November 2019, the media covered the discussions on Arctic security at the Halifax International Security Forum.

GBA+

• Nil.

INDIGENOUS

• Indigenous communities are key partners for the Canadian Armed Forces in the North. The Canadian Armed Forces regularly consults with territories and local governments to ensure Canadian Armed Forces activities take into account the interests of the region and its people.

• Indigenous Canadians are well represented in the Canadian Rangers, who provide crucial coverage in remote areas and indispensable local and traditional knowledge.

• The Canadian Armed Forces also supports local communities through the Junior Canadian Rangers, which offers an important social nexus for young people in the North, and through which traditional knowledge is passed on to the next generation.

• The current contract for the operation and maintenance of the North Warning System has the following Inuit beneficiary requirement:

  • 13% of contract value directed towards Inuit Benefits activities in the form of work for Inuit Owned Companies;
  • 20% of salaries paid through the contract must be to Inuit Beneficiaries
  • 3 Inuit Beneficiaries must be full time supervisors and managers working for the prime contractor;
  • The contractor must prepare, deliver and implement an Inuit Training and Development Program valued at $2M/year; and
  • The contractor must provide annual instruction to Inuit Owned Companies on how to effectively bid on Government contracts.

Responsible Principals: Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy), Canadian Joint Operations Command, Strategic Joint Staff, Assistant Deputy Minister (Science & Technology), Assistant Deputy Minister (Infrastructure & Environment)

QUICK FACTS

• Approximately 300 Canadian Armed Forces personnel stationed in Yellowknife with Joint Task Force North and other units.

• Canadian Armed Forces infrastructure in the North:

  • The North Warning System
  • Three NORAD operating locations in Iqaluit, Inuvik, and Yellowknife
  • Canadian Forces Station Alert
  • The Arctic Training Centre in Resolute Bay
  • Nanisivik Naval Facility

• Total of approximately 5,000 Canadian Rangers nation-wide of which 26% self-identify as Indigenous.

• There are approximately 1,800 Rangers from the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group found in 60 communities across the Canadian Arctic.