Vanguard Magazine

I f Canadians think about defence at all it is often couched in terms of how we have been blessed by ge- ography and by having, most of the time, a very good neighbour to the south. It does not occur to most of us that 'the longest undefended border' arguably might be to our north. Draw a line along our 'Northern Shore', from the Alaskan border east, then north along the islands almost to the North Pole, then south and east, and then south again, to the perhaps appropriately named Battle Harbour in Newfoundland and Labrador, and you'll see how long that border is. Why should this be important to us? During the Second World War, because of a single Japanese submarine shelling Este- van Point lighthouse on Vancouver Island, about one-third of Canada's infantry sol- diers remained on the West Coast defend- ing against a possible Japanese invasion while, from D-Day until the war's end, in- fantry units in Europe were bleeding out, begging for reinforcements. Maintaining troops on the West Coast was all about allaying fear, showing that the military could do something concrete, but at that point in the conflict there was no credible military threat from Japan. Today we are increasing our NATO commitment in Latvia. If those troops were committed to combat operations how many reinforce- ments would they receive if an aggressor made an incursion on Canadian soil? The reaction to such an incursion would be a major distraction, because public, media and politicians, just like in the mid-1940s, would demand action, this time to secure our beloved but often-ignored North. The 18th century French writer Voltaire famously said that no adversary would want a "few acres of snow" in Canada. But our North is more than a few acres of snow. There are population centres, citizens, infrastructure, resources. And amongst all this some strategic targets an aggressor might covet. One example: Ca- nadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert is as far north as Canadians can get, the top end of Ellesmere Island. According to its open source Royal Canadian Air Force website "CFS Alert maintains signals intelligence facilities to support Canadian military op- erations". Given its location, no need to guess whose signals they are collecting. If Russia was about to embark on another European adventure would it make sense they ensure we, and thus NATO, couldn't eavesdrop on Russian plans and shift NATO forces to respond? There are few soldiers in CFS Alert. A significant number are contracted civilians. I doubt there are many weapons for self- defence. Certainly, given the state of our army, there are no air defence weapons. In 1987, the Minister of National Defence, Perrin Beatty, briefing media on a major army exercise in the Eastern Arctic, stated it "will examine Soviet military techniques (such as) the development of so-called Spetsnaz teams … infiltrated into a coun- try … perhaps even before the outbreak of hostilities". 1 A small team, little opposi- tion, big results! There is also the question of 'illegals', agents of a potential aggressor who are already in Canada under an alias and a cover story. Should we assume that everyone at or near our defence establish- ments has been thoroughly vetted, and are who they say they are? But is such an incursion credible before or during hostilities? Testifying recently before a Senate Committee, Major-Gen- eral M.C. Wright, Chief of Defence In- telligence, stated "the threat of a Russian incursion into Canada's Arctic is low". His view was supported by several academ- ics. 2 The problem with these assessments is they are almost always near-term. Russia Members of the 3rd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment, Canadian Army hike to the rally point aer conducting a parachute jump from a C-130 aircra, to participate in Exercise Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center. Photo: DND B Y G R E G TAY LO R CANADA'S NORTH? SHOULDN'T THE ARMY BE ABLE TO DEFEND LA S T W O R D www.vanguardcanada.com FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 29

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