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When I last left you, my dear readers, I promised I would be bringing you answers. There is much the Canadian government can do to assert our collective sovereignty over the vast untapped wealth in the Arctic. This veritable treasure will be easy picking for the more aggressive powers in this world if left unguarded. Northern development is not only an economic but also a military imperative. By this I am referring to the large part that our military will have to play in this endeavor. In no way am I making the case that the armed forces are the only area in which investment is needed. As this article will detail, safeguarding our territorial claims in the Arctic will require a concerted investment in civilian and military infrastructure: the standing up or recapitalization of entire sectors of heavy industry and the establishment of what would essentially be a new province in the Arctic circle.
Before I can even begin to speak of specific requirements in terms of equipment and personnel, we must first address the glaring lack of infrastructure and permanent installations. The area of interest is the Arctic archipelago, its internal waters, its territorial waters and, most contentious, our claimed Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). That is the objective, but securing this massive area is easier said than done. The archipelago (as I will now refer to it) has 36,563 islands and covers an area of 1.42 million square kilometers. It is larger than France, Germany and the UK combined but has a population density of 0.0098/km2, with only 14,000 souls. This scarcity, combined with the nature of the terrain, makes it extremely difficult to police the area. This is especially hindered due to significant portions of the passages freezing over in the winters or being permanently stuck in ice. In other words, the archipelago is a tough place to own and that’s without competitors trying to get their hands our real estate. Increasing the population in the area would have many benefits, the most important of which would be that every additional Canadian citizen there would reinforce our claim of sovereignty over the whole, not to mention that every additional pair of eyes counts when it comes to policing this large, empty area.
While the vast majority of the myriad islands are barren and uninhabitable, Baffin Island is a promising bet. For one, it’s already inhabited with a population of some 11,000. Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, is situated on its soil. Baffin Island holds significant reserves of iron but also diamonds, zinc, lead and silver. As we have previously discussed, oil deposits are likely present offshore, under the receding ice. As such, a great potential exists to develop Baffin Island and use it as both a bulwark against foreign economic ambitions and a springboard towards our ultimate objective of consolidating Canada’s grip on its northern possessions. Developing Baffin Island would be a monumental task: a national project for a country which has suffered from aimlessness.
Backed by the right people, one could focus our national resources on such a project rather than pointlessly spending billions of dollars abroad every year. Much private investment could also be mustered by offering advantages to companies willing to assume some risk. For other areas, Crown corporations could be formed in order to build up the productive infrastructures. If unneeded for generating government revenue, these companies could then be sold off to the private sector once they’ve reached viability. Though it would be a decades long project, most key objectives could be achieved relatively quickly. These include population growth and the building up of strategic infrastructure, namely proper deep water ports, dockyards and shipping facilities in Iqaluit and Nanisivik. Settlement could be incentivized by allowing Nunavut to remain a territory, thus guaranteeing a smaller tax burden for the population. Such a preferential tax regime could remain in place until the island is sufficiently developed for its economy to be self-sustaining.
With Baffin Island populated and acting as a logistical base for further development forays into the archipelagic waters, we could begin phase 2 of the plan. This phase involves the standing up of a new airbase, a new army division and a new fleet. The airbase would serve as a logistical hub and be the home to a squadron of tactical lift aircrafts, Search And Rescue (SAR) assets and, when necessary, would have the capability to house jet fighters. It would also house the technological force multipliers that are drones. Pilotless, these machines would likely make superior patrol aircrafts to any manned aircraft. While not necessarily more performant, the lack of pilot would mean the ability to keep them in the air longer (the actual operators on the ground would be working in shifts) and to do things that would otherwise be considered unacceptably risky. Certainly the development of specialized Unmanned Aerial Aircrafts (UAVs) for the north would be a worthy endeavor in which government could invest, contributing to making Canada an industry leader in a sector that is certain to be grow as the Arctic opens up. The army division (let’s call it the 6th Division) would consolidate the command of ranger assets throughout the region. It could also incorporate freshly raised regiments of light infantry specialized in Arctic warfare, as well as surveillance, logistical and ground based air defence asset. The idea would be to have a force tailor-made to deal with the threat of aerial forays by our Russian friends, as well as providing manpower for regional Search And Rescue and disaster response.
Finally, the new fleet — let’s call it MARitime fleet NORth (MARNOR) — would also be a tailor-made force for the prevailing conditions: icy waters and Russian “boomers”, or nuclear submarines. For that purpose, we would need to build a small fleet of ice breaking warships with Polar Class 3 capabilities (the ability to break multi-year old ice all year round). Those would be destroyers specialized in area air defence, again to act as an effective deterrent to Russian air power. However, they would also possess anti-submarine capabilities, something I mentioned in my previous military proposal. The second deterrent, the one we’ll call an area denial asset and likely the largest single investment, would be the acquisition of nuclear submarines. These would be conventionally armed (no nuclear weapons) but powered by nuclear reactors giving them great speed and, most importantly, the ability to patrol for extended periods under the ice without surfacing. The reason for this is being that conventional diesel-powered subs need to surface regularly to take on oxygen to run their generators. This is hazardous, if not impossible, since the ocean in that area is frozen. Nuclear subs, on the other hand, can remain underwater as long as they have the provisions to feed their crews, a timeframe that can sometimes be measured in months.
With our own boomers acting as anti-ship area denial assets, the destroyers acting as mobile AD platforms and finally a fleet of smaller patrol vessels, assisted by air assets such as patrol aircrafts and drones operated by the Coast guard and the RCMP, we would have a very firm grip on the area. With a base of operation on Baffin Island allowing the fleet to replenish, undergo maintenance and change crews directly in the Area of Operation, we would be able to mount regular sovereignty patrols. This would send the world a very strong message that we mean business when it comes to our Arctic claims. It would have the added benefit of reinforcing the US alliance. With Canada taking appropriate measures to secure our shared northern flank, our ally is less likely to butt in to defend what they currently see as an exposed area.
With a self-sustaining economy of Baffin Island as a base of operations for strong defenses, we would be able to rest secure knowing that our valuable northern frontier is well defended against foreign interference. Most forecasts predict the ice will continue receding in the coming decades, opening up the area for resource exploitation and for settlement. The archipelago and her waters could become a territory rich for a new frontier, a new colonization effort, a new National Project. Plan North would give us ports in which the new shipping routes would be able to anchor themselves, bringing with them economic windfalls of all sorts and benefiting the country as a whole. Northern Canada could ultimately become an important trade hub in Euro-Asiatic trade.
I would not have written this piece if I thought this was beyond our capabilities. While harnessing the Arctic is often seen by our pathologically demoralized elite as a pipe dream, I believe that Canada — good old pioneer Canada — is still around and kicking, with the stuff to make it work. It is a true great project for the 21st century. One for the history books, so to speak.
It will be expensive and it will be extremely difficult. The engineering challenges will be great and our adversaries both within and without will likely do their best to sabotage such efforts. We will face everything from fifth columnists claiming such projects to be futile to foreign powers seeking to block our expansion into our rightful territory. Nevertheless, Canada must embrace its destiny as a true northern power — or settle in for a long slow decline into middling mediocrity and vassalage. I say we dare to take the plunge.
However, we ought not to be alone in our efforts and an entire diplomatic aspect has wilfully been disregarded in this piece for the sake of expediency. The next and final piece will address diplomacy and commerce, how to best deal with our neighbours and how to approach the complexities that will arise from such a project.
Photo credit: Petty Officer Second Class Belinda Groves, Task Force Imagery Technician. View original here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jtf-north/39874645705/