QUESTION PERIOD — National Defence
Arctic Sovereignty
December 8, 2022
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.
Senator Gold, I would like to explore the issue of Canada’s Arctic with you. The government has made strengthening “Canada’s domain awareness, surveillance, and control capabilities in the Arctic and the North” a key objective of its Arctic and Northern Policy Framework. Yet, last month, the Auditor General tabled a report in which she called on four federal departments to take concrete actions to address the inability to track vessels continuously and to identify non-emitting vessels in the region.
We all know how important protecting, monitoring and defending the Arctic is for Canada’s current and future prosperity. In response to Ms. Hogan’s report, what concrete actions is the government willing to take to prevent unauthorized access to our waters, to adequately track vessel traffic and to ensure we have the proper equipment to monitor maritime activities?
I thank the honourable senator for the question.
Canada’s maritime domain awareness in the Arctic is absolutely critical to ensure that we can manage risks and respond to incidents that may have an impact on our security, on our environment and on our economy. That’s why National Defence is making historic, landmark investments to increase our ability to operate in and to defend the Arctic. These include an investment of approximately $38.6 billion over 20 years to modernize NORAD, to improve our space capabilities, to acquire remotely piloted aircraft systems, to purchase six Arctic offshore patrol ships and to enhance our surveillance capacity and our intelligence capability in the Arctic with 88 fighter jets. As well, the planned Nanisivik Naval Facility will play an important role in enhancing the Royal Canadian Navy’s presence in the North and help secure our Arctic.
The government remains committed to continuing to make the necessary investments to ensure that Canada’s Arctic remains secure.
Thank you for that reassurance, Senator Gold.
In a column published last week, Stephen Van Dine wrote that:
. . . Canada’s influence at that table —
— that of the Arctic Council, which was created in 1996 in Ottawa —
— has begun to wane, especially in comparison to financial commitments made by other nations including Norway and Denmark as well as the United States and Russia.
We know that Canada has made important investments and commitments to addressing domestic issues for northern residents and Indigenous peoples in the Arctic, but with the increasing traffic in the region and the interests of other nations in this part of the world, I feel that Canada needs to do more to reestablish itself as an Arctic powerhouse. We need to take this issue more seriously.
What is the government doing to advance and protect our foreign interests in the region?
Thank you for the question.
Canada’s sovereignty over the Arctic is long-standing and well established. I’m advised that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has raised the issue with the United States, Denmark, Norway and Finland as they are our neighbours in the North. The minister has also raised the issue with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg. As I mentioned in response to your previous question, we are making important and historic investments. I want to underline again the investment in updating and strengthening our NORAD capabilities.
By the way, those investments include $15.68 billion allocated for investments in new infrastructure and support capabilities across Canada, which include upgrades to four northern locations across the country.
This government will always defend our sovereignty, and the peoples and communities in the North. They are important elements of the national interest of this country.
