Time for Canada to rethink its Arctic strategy: Senator Marty Deacon
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Recently, I travelled to Montréal where Canada hosted the 70th Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Here, parliamentary representatives from across NATO sat, discussed and debated the pressing needs for the alliance in the coming years. Front and centre were discussions on the Arctic.
Climate change is not only altering the physical landscape in the region, but also shifting the diplomatic power dynamics that Canada has benefited from for decades as well. Melting glaciers caused by a warming Arctic are having an increasingly disruptive effect on European weather and waterflows. Prospective access to natural resources needed to fuel the coming century has garnered an increased presence from traditional Arctic powers like Russia — but also from new players like China, which has labelled itself a “near Arctic” power. This has upset a balance Canada has relied on for decades and will require a reframing of our approach to the Arctic that will necessitate meaningful defence spending in the decades to come.
Canada has until recently relied a great deal on soft power to establish our Arctic sovereignty. The Arctic Council was a centrepiece of this and represented a forum where Arctic nations could co-ordinate and discuss our differences. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, however, the future of the Arctic Council has been called into question. This symbolism is hard to overstate.
The council in its formation intentionally excluded any reference to military and defence in its mandate. Since the pause was implemented two years ago, Sweden and Finland have joined NATO, meaning the entirety of the Arctic Council’s membership, sans Russia, is now a member of that military pact.
This sets the stage for a more hawkish Arctic century where Canada’s military presence in the region will need to be bolstered — not only to demonstrate our sovereignty, but also to be seen as a reliable ally to our Arctic allies and NATO as a whole. This comes at a time of increasing accusations from within the NATO alliance that Canada is not pulling its weight, particularly from the incoming administration in Washington, D.C., which has made no secret of its desire to see us step up our defensive capabilities in the region.
This presents both a challenge and opportunity. A presence is not only people on the ground and boats on the seas, but also permanent infrastructure. Big-ticket items like the renewal of NORAD have garnered the headlines, but all too often when it comes time to deliver, government investment in the region appears as a box-ticking exercise rather than the real investment this country needs for the coming decades.
One need look no further than the abandoned mine town of Nanisivik to see this in practice. In 2007, the government announced the site would be converted into a deep-water port and naval facility. Originally slated for use in 2015, the site is nearly a decade behind schedule and has been scaled down significantly. A 2022 report by the Auditor General of Canada found that the Nanisivik Naval Facility will not be equipped with heated fuel tanks, limiting its period of operation to four weeks a year. This, as the report says, means that the facility will not be able to effectively support Canadian vessels that operate in the Arctic, and that for almost the entire year, ships’ refuelling will “depend on commercial options or allies’ co-operation.”
“This leaves the navy at risk of not getting replenishment for its ships where and when needed,” the report warned.
Half measures like we’ve seen at the Nanisivik site hurt our standing with our allies and will contribute to impressions that Canada cannot effectively secure our territory. With the Arctic territory making up nearly 40% of our landmass and 75% of our coastline, we cannot defend it without co-operation with our allies. But these partnerships are a two-way street and require commitment on our part.
This commitment must take the form of hard assets in the region that will allow Canada to rely on its partners and be a reliable ally in return.
Senator Marty Deacon represents Ontario and is a member of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association. She sits on the Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.
This article was published in The Hill Times on December 2, 2024.
Recently, I travelled to Montréal where Canada hosted the 70th Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Here, parliamentary representatives from across NATO sat, discussed and debated the pressing needs for the alliance in the coming years. Front and centre were discussions on the Arctic.
Climate change is not only altering the physical landscape in the region, but also shifting the diplomatic power dynamics that Canada has benefited from for decades as well. Melting glaciers caused by a warming Arctic are having an increasingly disruptive effect on European weather and waterflows. Prospective access to natural resources needed to fuel the coming century has garnered an increased presence from traditional Arctic powers like Russia — but also from new players like China, which has labelled itself a “near Arctic” power. This has upset a balance Canada has relied on for decades and will require a reframing of our approach to the Arctic that will necessitate meaningful defence spending in the decades to come.
Canada has until recently relied a great deal on soft power to establish our Arctic sovereignty. The Arctic Council was a centrepiece of this and represented a forum where Arctic nations could co-ordinate and discuss our differences. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, however, the future of the Arctic Council has been called into question. This symbolism is hard to overstate.
The council in its formation intentionally excluded any reference to military and defence in its mandate. Since the pause was implemented two years ago, Sweden and Finland have joined NATO, meaning the entirety of the Arctic Council’s membership, sans Russia, is now a member of that military pact.
This sets the stage for a more hawkish Arctic century where Canada’s military presence in the region will need to be bolstered — not only to demonstrate our sovereignty, but also to be seen as a reliable ally to our Arctic allies and NATO as a whole. This comes at a time of increasing accusations from within the NATO alliance that Canada is not pulling its weight, particularly from the incoming administration in Washington, D.C., which has made no secret of its desire to see us step up our defensive capabilities in the region.
This presents both a challenge and opportunity. A presence is not only people on the ground and boats on the seas, but also permanent infrastructure. Big-ticket items like the renewal of NORAD have garnered the headlines, but all too often when it comes time to deliver, government investment in the region appears as a box-ticking exercise rather than the real investment this country needs for the coming decades.
One need look no further than the abandoned mine town of Nanisivik to see this in practice. In 2007, the government announced the site would be converted into a deep-water port and naval facility. Originally slated for use in 2015, the site is nearly a decade behind schedule and has been scaled down significantly. A 2022 report by the Auditor General of Canada found that the Nanisivik Naval Facility will not be equipped with heated fuel tanks, limiting its period of operation to four weeks a year. This, as the report says, means that the facility will not be able to effectively support Canadian vessels that operate in the Arctic, and that for almost the entire year, ships’ refuelling will “depend on commercial options or allies’ co-operation.”
“This leaves the navy at risk of not getting replenishment for its ships where and when needed,” the report warned.
Half measures like we’ve seen at the Nanisivik site hurt our standing with our allies and will contribute to impressions that Canada cannot effectively secure our territory. With the Arctic territory making up nearly 40% of our landmass and 75% of our coastline, we cannot defend it without co-operation with our allies. But these partnerships are a two-way street and require commitment on our part.
This commitment must take the form of hard assets in the region that will allow Canada to rely on its partners and be a reliable ally in return.
Senator Marty Deacon represents Ontario and is a member of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association. She sits on the Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.
This article was published in The Hill Times on December 2, 2024.