A look at how the Canadian military is training for potential conflicts in the North

A swarm of troops dressed successful achromatic and wearing snowshoes glide crossed a frozen valley.

Suddenly they stop, signifier a line, kneel and propulsion retired their rifles. Smoke fills the aerial from the blanks fired astatine an excavator — today's stand-in for an force force.

Atop a adjacent hill, a radical of Canadian Rangers successful orangish vests ticker the simulated attack. Huddled adjacent a reddish warming tent, they hold for a awesome earlier jumping connected their snowmobiles and driving to the battleground.

If a subject struggle came to Canada's North, it mightiness look thing similar this.

images expandThe simulated struggle took spot successful a vale betwixt cliffs and hills of gravel. (Natalia Weichsel/CBC)

Nearly 200 members of the 34th Canadian Brigade Group person travelled astir 1,000 kilometres northbound to the Cree Nation of Chisasibi successful the Eeyou Istchee from Montreal and Valcartier for an yearly workout they accidental is much important than ever. 

In the discourse of rapidly shrinking oversea crystal successful the Arctic and arsenic United States President Donald Trump ramps up comments astir annexing Canada, Ottawa is seeking to reassert its sovereignty successful the North. 

Last week, national Defence Minister Bill Blair announced the authorities was expanding its spending connected bluish subject infrastructure tenfold implicit the adjacent 20 years and would beryllium gathering 3 operational enactment hubs successful Iqaluit, Yellowknife and Inuvik, N.W.T.

"We intelligibly shouldn't beryllium relying connected anyone other to support our nation," Blair said astatine the announcement. 

CBC and 2 different media organizations were invited to witnesser a subject grooming workout to amended recognize Canadian efforts to summation its subject beingness and capabilities successful the Arctic. 

“The hardest portion was decidedly the cold,” says Sgt. Matthieu Forester, lowering his cervix warmer to uncover a frost-covered moustache. The heavy snowfall besides made it hard to navigate done the vale portion wearing snowshoes, helium adds. 

“We person to practise our techniques. We've been practising for a twelvemonth to beryllium acceptable for this benignant of environment.”

Canada — on with its circumpolar allies — began to re-evaluate vulnerabilities successful the North pursuing Russia's penetration of Ukraine successful 2022. The penetration ended Arctic co-operation betwixt Russia and those states, including Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and the U.S. 

Russia and China are showing much involvement successful the North and its shipping routes arsenic they some look to grow their beingness successful the region.

A caller Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) appraisal obtained by The Canadian Press done entree to accusation identified assets extraction projects, expanding vessel postulation and the gathering of ports arsenic immoderate of the ways atrocious religion actors could usage to summation crushed successful the Arctic. 

“There's a batch of Russian subject deployed successful that portion and theoretically, astatine slightest if they wanted to, they could onshore connected immoderate distant Canadian land and prehend immoderate territory," says Stéphane Roussel, a governmental subject prof astatine the École nationale d'administration publique.

But Roussel warns of a bigger menace person to home. He says the caller American medication mightiness privation to situation Canadian claims connected immoderate areas of the Arctic, namely the Northwest Passage. 

The maritime way weaves done Canada’s Arctic Archipelago, stretching from northbound of Baffin Island close up until the Beaufort Sea, adjacent to the U.S. authorities of Alaska. It is the longest seashore Canada claims arsenic sovereign.

In 2019, during the 11th Arctic Council ministerial gathering successful Finland, erstwhile U.S. caput of authorities Mike Pompeo accused Canada of making illegitimate claims to the Northwest Passage arsenic interior waters. 

“It's imaginable that the Trump medication wants to revive these conflicts and openly contention Canadian claims connected this region,” Roussel said.

During its week-long exercise, the brigade acceptable up office wrong a gathering belonging to the Chisasibi Cree Nation, connected the occidental enactment of James Bay. 

Canadian subject activities successful the Arctic and Subarctic often instrumentality spot adjacent Indigenous communities. The subject says it needs their accepted cognition and stewardship of the onshore much than ever. 

"We don't cognize the maps; we don't cognize the radical and we don't cognize the area," says Col. David Shane, commandant of the 34th Brigade. 

A radical of Canadian Rangers based successful Chisasibi are participating successful the exercise. 

Rangers are portion of the Canadian Army Reserve and enactment successful distant and isolated coastal regions of Canada. There are astir 5,000 Canadian Rangers surviving successful much than 220 communities crossed the country. 

They bid the Armed Forces with endurance skills and accepted cognition of the land. Rangers talk implicit 26 antithetic languages and dialects, galore of which are Indigenous.

images expandChisasibi Cree Nation agreed successful the autumn to let the 34th Canadian Brigade to clasp a week of exercises connected its territory. (Natalia Weichsel/CBC)

Sgt. Alvin Cash, who is based successful Chisasibi and is Cree, has been a Ranger for 15 years. 

“Their caput bureau is down south," Cash said, speaking astir the brigade. "We are the ones really up present providing them utile information."

“We usage our ain civilization with however overmuch we cognize the territory to supply that work and walk the accusation to the military," helium said.

Rangers' services are adjuvant astatine home, too, Cash said — carrying retired exigency hunt and rescue missions, conducting patrols and assisting with biology disasters. 

“We are the past edifice people,” Cash said. “It's our regular mandate to ever beryllium connected the lookout and we could beryllium called successful each of a abrupt for a ngo truthful we are ever acceptable to go.” 

The brigade chose the country adjacent Chisasibi arsenic its grooming crushed for its wintertime conditions akin to the Arctic. 

"It's an isolated area. The upwind present is unpredictable. You could person each whiteouts," Cash said. 

images expandSgt. Alvin Cash, based successful Chisasibi, has been with the Canadian Rangers since 2010. (Natalia Weichsel/CBC)

Though sparsely inhabited, the Arctic covers 40 per cent of the Canadian onshore mass, stretching implicit astir 4 cardinal quadrate kilometres. The bitter cold, constricted connection lines and infrastructure, arsenic good arsenic the lack of imperishable subject bases means troops person to beryllium prepared for each kinds of situations.

“We request to beryllium capable to task our forces into an situation that cipher knows," Shane said. 

When travelling northbound for these analyzable exercises, subject vehicles embark connected the 16-hour travel from Montreal and Valcartier, equipped with fuel, attraction supplies and food. Snowshoes, toboggans, skis and vigor antennas are besides transported, on with the deployment of aesculapian services, subject planes and police.

Troops campy retired successful tents, preparing their nutrient connected camping stoves and learning to past successful a distant location.

The 34th Brigade reached retired to Chisasibi Cree Nation Chief Daisy House past October arsenic it was looking for a spot to behaviour the bluish simulation.

House agreed to person the brigade usage the Nation's Mitchuap building, a teepee-shaped operation with an auditorium wherever the brigade could acceptable up tables with computers and maps.

“We warned the assemblage that we'd person astir 175 reservists coming among different dignitaries truthful that they'd beryllium acceptable for that," said House. "And they said, 'we'll greet them arsenic portion of our customized and our civilization to invited guests.'"

House says assemblage members shared accepted skills with the reservists, specified arsenic however to physique a dwelling utilizing tiny trees and a tarp oregon however to navigate Chisasibi’s 40 trap lines. 

“[The onshore stewards] cognize their onshore much than anybody else. We cannot dictate oregon archer them what to bash due to the fact that their ancestors person been determination for centuries and they cognize it best. And they've seen the changes and the improvement implicit the years,” she said.