Vanguard Magazine

34 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2021 www.vanguardcanada.com THREATS THROUGH, TO, AND IN THE ARCTIC C anada's 2017 defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged (SSE), confirms that the Arctic re- mains an area of particular interest and fo- cus, highlighting its cultural and economic importance as well as rapid environmental, economic, and social changes that present opportu- nities and generate or amplify security challenges. To meet those challenges and "succeed in an unpredict- able and complex security environment," the Govern- ment of Canada commits to an ambitious program of naval construction, capacity enhancements, and technological upgrades to improve situational aware- ness, communications, and the ability of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to operate across the Canadian Arctic. The justifications for these investments include a range of drivers and dynamics often compressed into a single narrative, with the Arctic region highlighted as "an important international crossroads where issues of climate change, international trade, and global se- curity meet." Current North American defence modernization discussions are likely to amplify the debate about the nature of Arctic security. In early 2020, NORAD com- mander General Terrance O'Shaughnessy argued that "geographic barriers that kept our homeland beyond the reach of most conventional threats" no longer guar- antee North America as a "sanctuary," and "the Arctic is no longer a fortress wall … [but an avenue] of approach for advanced conventional weapons and the platforms that carry them." He insisted that "Russia has left us with no choice but to improve our homeland defense capability and capacity. In the meantime, China has taken a number of incremental steps toward expanding its own Arctic presence." With climate change "open- ing new access" to the region, SSE states that "Arctic and non-Arctic states alike are looking to benefit from the potential economic opportunities associated with new resource development and transportation routes." What does this mean for a country with Arctic policies predicated on the idea of the region as a place (and par- ticularly an Indigenous homeland) rather than a threat vector? How do measures to address strategic threats to North America passing through the Canadian Arctic relate to threats to the region or in the region? BY P. WHITNEY LACKENBAUER ARCTIC

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