NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ended his trip to Canada’s Arctic on Friday by underlining the threats to the region posed by both Russia and China.
Standing alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at one of the country’s principal northern fighter jet bases in Cold Lake, Alta., Stoltenberg cited a list of actions Moscow has taken in the Far North in co-operation with Beijing.
“Russia has set up a new Arctic command,” he said. “It has opened hundreds of new and former Soviet-era Arctic military sites, including airfields and deep water ports. Russia is also using the region as a test bed for many of its new novel weapon systems.”
China is also expanding its reach and has declared itself a “near Arctic” state, with plans to build the world’s largest icebreaker, he added.
“It is investing billions of dollars in energy infrastructure and research projects in the high North,” Stoltenberg said.
“Beijing and Moscow have also pledged to intensify practical operation in the Arctic. This forms part of the deepening strategic partnership that challenges our values and our interests.”
Stoltenberg also emphasized NATO’s growing interest in Arctic defence, especially in light of Sweden and Finland’s plans to join the military alliance.
The NATO chief and Trudeau spoke about increased co-operation but stopped short of committing to major NATO-led exercises on Canadian soil in the Far North.
Speaking to CBC’s Power & Politics, Defence Minister Anita Anand said allied participation in domestic Canadian military exercises is acceptable to Ottawa but the Liberal government “has no plans” to host a NATO drill similar to the alliance’s annual Exercise Cold Response in Norway.
Yves Brodeur, a former Canadian ambassador to NATO, said formally inviting the alliance to train in the Arctic would send an important signal to Russia.
“That would be a good thing,” Brodeur told Radio-Canada in an interview.
“Taking into account the fact that the high North is really an area which actually offers some pretty hostile conditions — it’s not an easy environment. So, to have NATO troops from NATO nations together with Canada exercising in the high North would be, as far as I’m concerned, a big asset for the organization, for NATO.”
WATCH | NATO chief, PM tour Arctic defence facilities:
NATO, Trudeau tour Canada’s Arctic defences
1 day ago
Duration 13:31
During a visit to Nunavut’s Cambridge Bay with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed the importance of defence in Canada’s Far North amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Canada traditionally has been reluctant to work with allies other than the United States in the Far North. The reasons relate to sovereignty.
Many of the country’s closest allies do not recognize Canada’s claim to the Northwest Passage.
According to research by University of Calgary Arctic expert Rob Huebert, the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Belgium, Japan, the European Commission, Singapore and Russia (when it was the USSR) have, over the past 40 years, formally protested or registered dissenting opinions over Canada’s claim that the passage is an internal Canadian waterway.
Experts have suggested that asking other nations to help defend the region — especially those that don’t recognize Canada’s claim — could be seen as weakening Canada’s position.
“The Northwest Passage is Canadian waters, period,” Trudeau said, responding to questions along with Stoltenberg on Friday.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, second left, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau take part in a tour of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, on Thursday. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
He acknowledged there has been “a longstanding disagreement with the United States” but said Washington has “understood our position and our allies, you know, respect Canada’s position.”
Huebert said it would be “counterproductive for the Europeans or the Americans to ever press” Canada on its sovereignty claim, especially in the current geopolitical climate.
But if Canada is serious about its claim, he said, it should be investing more in infrastructure — both military and civilian — to reinforce its control over the region.
“When we look at what the Russians have done with the Northern Sea route,” Huebert said, “the reason why no one challenges them — because basically they have created an internal waterway — no one challenges them because the Russians have such a strong capability to defend the region.”
In his remarks, Stoltenberg pointed to that capability while avoiding any criticism of Canada.
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.
