National Defence Minister Anita Anand is planning a trip to the Arctic, as she gathers her allied counterparts in Arctic countries for a joint discussion on the security of the region in light of Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Anand told CBC News she spoke to all three territorial premiers on Friday about her intention to visit. The minister said she is also having ongoing discussions with the defence ministers of Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark.
“What is so important is the collective will to act together as allies regarding Arctic sovereignty,” Anand said.
Anand said she will soon introduce a spending plan for modernizing the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), a bilateral organization between the U.S. and Canada created to defend the continent from air attack.
“It is extremely important for NORAD modernization that we have these continued discussions,” she said.
A Royal Canadian Navy diver performs mine countermeasure operations as part of Exercise Arctic Edge 2022 near Juneau, Alaska, on March 8. (Cpl Hugo Montpetit/Canadian Armed Forces)
Ottawa has committed to work with the U.S. on replacing the North Warning System with technology that includes next-generation over-the-horizon radar systems that can detect targets at long ranges.
Anand also said Ottawa is buying new military equipment, including two new polar ice breakers, and is expected to award a contract for 88 new fighter jets this year.
Military exercises to have ‘deterrent and defensive effect’
Canada began an Arctic air defence operation Monday, known as Noble Defender, with the U.S. that will run until March 17 and include flying over sparsely populated areas at high altitudes.
“This exercise will have a deterrent and defensive effect,” Anand said.
“We are very much aware and prepared to undertake additional exercises as necessary.”
National Defence Minister Anita Anand says Canada stands ready to protect Arctic sovereignty. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
The Canadian Armed Forces on HMCS Brandon are additionally training in mine warfare with the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard as part of exercise Arctic Edge off the coast of Juneau, Alaska.
The exercise involves military personnel using remote underwater vehicles to practice finding and removing mines from the sea bed.
“The theme of the exercise really is building relationships with other security partners in the Arctic,” said Lt.-Cmdr. Mike Wills, the commanding officer of HMCS Brandon.
“The conflict in Ukraine didn’t result in the scheduling of this exercise, but certainly it perhaps highlights the importance.”
Time for Canada to step up, critics say
Russia has been flexing its military presence in the Arctic like never before using nuclear submarines and nuclear-powered icebreakers, even laying claims to a bigger chunk of a region within 200 nautical miles from Canada’s coastline.
“Canadians’ safety is at risk if we do not step up to the plate and adequately defend,” said Conservative MP Bob Zimmer, critic for northern affairs and Arctic sovereignty. “We need leadership.”
Zimmer said Canada’s response to Russia’s military buildup is overdue and he doesn’t think Canada is ready for an offensive encounter in the Arctic.
Meanwhile, the NDP’s national defence critic, Lindsay Mathyssen, is calling on Ottawa to spend more on northern communities.
“This is about investing in the infrastructure they’ve ignored for quite some time,” she said.
HMCS Brandon sits just outside Juneau, Alaska, as the ship supports divers from Fleet Diving Unit Pacific while they conduct mine countermeasure missions on the ocean floor during Exercise Arctic Edge 2022 on March 8. (Master Sailor Dan Bard/Canadian Armed Forces)
Yukon Premier Sandy Silver said funding for highways, airports, digital security and energy is now more important than ever.
“We need peace and stability right across the north,” Silver said.
“Foreign countries are paying a lot of attention to the north and it’s time that Canada does the same.”
Silver said he’s been concerned about Arctic sovereignty for years, and intends to raise the issue at the Council of the Federation meetings this summer with the prime minister and premiers.
Call to demilitarize region
The Arctic Council, a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by Arctic governments and Indigenous Peoples, put its work on hold due to the invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the current chair.
“It’s worrisome,” said Dalee Sambo Dorough, the international chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) — one of the six Indigenous organizations, known as Permanent Participants, on the Arctic Council.
“It’s my hope that it doesn’t escalate or go even further.”
The ICC, which emerged from the Cold War to strengthen unity among Inuit, has long called for the Arctic to be declared a zone of peace — something Dorough expects members to reaffirm to a “much higher level of priority” due to the conflict in Ukraine at its July 2022 general assembly.
Cpl. Nicolaus Lalopoulos, a door gunner with 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, mans a Browning M2 .50 calibre heavy machine gun on a CH-146 Griffon training flight during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 22-02 at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, on March 8. (Cpl. Angela Gore/Canadian Armed Forces)
It’s conceivable that war between Russia and NATO would extend to the North American Arctic, but it’s more likely to extend to the European Arctic near Norway, the Barents Sea and North Sea, according to Michael Byers, Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia.
He said Canada needs more surveillance in the region, but not because the country should be worried about a possible Russian attack.
“We’re protected by distance and climate from Russia today,” Byers said.
“Our involvement in this is through NATO and the theatre is in Europe, it’s not in the Canadian Arctic.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
