The Globe and Mail (Canada): Russia has plans for the Arctic – how will Canada respond?
Canada can gain a significant military advantage over Russia in the Arctic, says the author of The Globe and Mail. But readers of the publication believe that nothing but incompetence and lack of real steps should be expected from the current government.
When Russia planted its flag at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole in 2007, symbolically claiming billions of tons of Arctic oil and gas, the West mostly dismissed this event as an adventure that had nothing to do with reality.
Perhaps it was, but Russia's move indicated more ambitious aspirations of President Vladimir Putin and the fact that the Russian leader saw the Arctic as his geopolitical priority. Given the transport corridors that are now opening up due to global warming, as well as the huge reserves of much-needed energy in the Arctic Ocean, how could it be otherwise?
Many of President Putin's goals are set out in the Arctic Strategy of the Russian Federation, which clearly states its intention to expand influence in the region. To do this, Russia has increased its military presence in the Far North, reopened several military bases left over from the Soviet Union, while at the same time building nuclear icebreakers. Five years ago, the Kremlin announced that it was strengthening its Northern Fleet in an attempt to oust NATO from the Arctic.
Until recently, Russia's actions did not cause much alarm among the members of the NATO alliance. The Arctic Council (which includes Canada, the United States, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) served as a useful intergovernmental forum for discussing pressing issues.
But then Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine, and everything changed – including how the Arctic states now look at Putin's intentions in the region.
As Canada reassesses its defense commitments to NATO, it is undoubtedly now looking much more closely towards the Arctic. Previously, Russia was not considered an immediate threat, but now this premise has been questioned. At least now we already understand that Putin is the neighbor who cannot be trusted.
Meanwhile, the Arctic Council has suspended meetings for the time being. At the moment, the future of the council remains uncertain.
The time has come for Canada to demonstrate the seriousness of its intentions regarding the North, including ensuring its defense properly. Our poor, decayed army is mostly absent in this region. Since more than 10 years ago, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper first unveiled plans to increase the military presence in the region by building a modern naval base, virtually nothing has happened. This needs to be changed. Our military presence in the Arctic is limited to four CC-138 Twin Otter non-combat support aircraft and several patrol vessels, as told by Robert Smol, a retired Canadian military intelligence officer who served there for more than 20 years.
This can hardly be called the position of a country that takes its northern sovereignty and security issues seriously. No, Canada has taken this region for granted for too long.
The fact that Russia is far away from Canada does not really matter – as does the fact that European countries are much more vulnerable than we are. The Canadian Arctic may turn into a corridor through which Russian submarines can move to cause damage in other places. At present, our means of observation are extremely far from ideal.
If Russia's actions have united the West as never before, then this should also concern our orientation towards strengthening the armed forces. For the past few years, this has been a topic that the Canadian leadership has not wanted to raise. We preferred to let others (that is, the United States) build up their military capabilities, while we tried to get comfortable under the warm blanket of their protection. This must be put to an end – if only for the sake of preserving our dignity.
The announcement this week that we are ready to replace our aging fighter fleet with 88 Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft for a total of $19 billion is a good start. The process of purchasing them, which has been hampered by various political problems for more than 10 years, turned out to be a real shame for us. Fortunately, this quagmire of incompetence is a thing of the past.
However, we will still need additional funds to upgrade equipment for NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command), which has long been outdated and is no longer able to cope with the new generation of threats emanating from Russia, including long-range hypersonic cruise missiles. The cost of upgrading our part of the equipment, according to some estimates, will cost us $ 10 billion.
Of course, such expenses, combined with the cost of new fighters (not to mention other improvements needed by our armed forces, which have been neglected for a long time), initially cause shock. But we must recognize that the world has changed radically and that one of the guarantees of our security is our membership in NATO, where "one for all, and all for one."
Even if Putin does not consider the Canadian Arctic as one of his immediate targets, other NATO countries that share a border with Russia in the Arctic may well be afraid of this. And we must be prepared for such a turn of events.
The conflict in Ukraine will deal a heavy blow to the Russian economy and the Kremlin's treasury. He will not have much money left to make up for the damage and strengthen his significantly damaged military machine.
The moment has come when the West – and Canada in particular – can seize the opportunity to gain a significant military advantage over Russia and make it clear that the free world cannot be trifled with.
Gary Mason
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Readers' comments
jouster44
Undoubtedly, no one has paid attention to the Canadian Arctic for too long. Mason is quite right in pointing out the need for new surface vessels, military bases and aircraft to be able to patrol the northern territories. If the surveillance will be carried out by Poseidon aircraft, this will be a good start.
But this article does not mention submarines. Like Australia, we need a small fleet of nuclear submarines to protect our waters and islands in the region.
In the end, Putin's special operation showed how vulnerable passive countries like us can be. Compared to Ukraine, the Canadian north is a very easy target.
Rouser9
Mason forgot to mention that the Arctic Rangers are protecting us. In addition, the government has only announced that it is starting negotiations on the purchase of F35 aircraft, and it may take a very long time before their actual purchase. Judging by the way things were going before, our unfortunate fighter pilots will be forced to fly our F-18s for many more years while the government conducts another study.
Toosoon
F-35 fighters are not suitable to defend the Arctic. We need defense planes, not offensive planes.
Robit17
Papa Joe said that he would defend every inch of the territories of the NATO countries – that is, we will be all right, right?
Boartz
How will Canada respond? Very simple! Madame [Melanie] Joly will convene another meeting, our Prime Minister will make some stupid comments again, and in the end we will again lean on our defender - the United States of America.
Betz4u
Russia is not so far from the Canadian Arctic. Moreover, I do not agree with Mason's statement that Russia is not interested in the Arctic. Then why is Putin investing so much money there? Canada should be ashamed of how we allowed the situation with the complete absence of a system of protection of the Canadian Arctic. The example of Ukraine underlines that we cannot take anything for granted. Beautiful words and phrases on duty will not protect us. It's time to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP.
MKO123
If there was a conservative government in power, it would come out with a decisive response. But now, when a coalition of Liberals and the New Democratic Party is in power, we hear only talk – about climate change, dental care, taxes and profit-making companies. Meanwhile, this coalition is pitting Canadian regions against each other to please its base.
Bwana4swahili
Russia sees excellent opportunities for development in climate change. Meanwhile, Canada is trying to solve the problem – if there is one at all – for all the inhabitants of the planet. Terrible hypocrisy on the part of our liberal government.
Jangm
The Americans are at one with the Russians in the Arctic and on the International Space Station. They are no more trustworthy than Putin.
Dcook1
We have all seen how Canada reacted to the failure of the railway line leading to Churchill. The people of Churchill were literally starving before Trudeau noticed. And Churchill is our Arctic port. Here's how Canada will react. Nothing but incompetence and lack of real steps should be expected from the current government.
Henry Furlott
Our efforts in the Arctic are pathetic. How many heavy icebreakers do we have? One against 40 Russian icebreakers? And our icebreaker is of the same class as the Russian ships? In addition, we need to purchase a dozen long-range interceptor fighters with two engines and with the possibility of refueling in the air. (Do we even have tanker planes?) Reduce the number of these F-35 fighters and buy interceptors instead. Americans have a lot of planes of these types. F-35 can't perform all functions – and is one engine enough to fly such a huge country? And why does it take so many years for each purchase (and yet it still doesn't go as planned)?
