QUESTION PERIOD — National Defence
Arctic Sovereignty
March 9, 2026
Government leader, last week during a parliamentary association trip to the United Kingdom, a theme that repeatedly arose was Arctic security and defence in Canada.
Obviously, the Canadian government has announced $81 billion of defence spending over the next few years, which is more than welcome and is something the opposition has been requesting for a very long time. We all recognize around the international community, particularly the Five Eyes and G7, that China and Russia have been very active in the Arctic. They have been putting their money where their mouths are with military equipment and staking out claims, while Canada, which has a natural claim to that very strategically important territory, both economically and for national defence and security, has been slow in taking action. It takes time to ramp up the billions of dollars of spending and to put in place the necessary infrastructure.
What is our short-term plan for defending our interests and security in the Arctic?
Canada is a proud Arctic country, and we are making decisions to ensure that our sovereignty over the Arctic is defended. The Government of Canada is investing over $72 billion into the new defence policy Our North, Strong and Free and nearly $40 billion into Canada’s NORAD Modernization Plan, which supports an increased Canadian Armed Forces presence in the North and the Arctic.
The government must ensure it has appropriate and well‑situated refuelling facilities across all three of Canada’s coasts to support our Royal Canadian Navy. That’s why the government has invested over $107 million in the Nanisivik Naval Facility to ensure our sovereignty in the Arctic.
Government leader, I appreciate all of those expenditures, but it will take a decade for all of that to ramp up. In the meantime, China and Russia are already staking claims. They have already put military operations in place. They are already patrolling the Arctic. We need to do something more than just open up a consulate in Alaska. This particular failure and neglect over the last 10 years has put us at the feet of Donald Trump and made us reliant upon the United States of America for defence more than ever.
What will we do in the short term to rectify the problem?
The massive investments I just referred to a moment ago are very strong commitments by Canada to defend the Arctic and the sovereignty of our entire country. We are very well aware of the geopolitical situation, and that is the reason why we have made unprecedented investments in the Canadian Armed Forces.
