Vanguard Magazine

54 APRIL/MAY 2025 www.vanguardcanada.com T H E LA S T W O R D turn the antennas around? What could we do? During my days at the Airborne Regi- ment, Canada could deploy and sustain a force of over 1,000 paratroopers anywhere in the Arctic within a few days. The Regi- ment's Immediate Reaction Force could be deployed within 24 hours anywhere in Canada quickly followed by the rest of the Regiment in the following days. It was an- other political decision that deprived Can- ada of this capability. Now, the Army is too small, the availability of its major equip- ment is significantly limited, it lacks proper Arctic mobility and communications, and it does not train often and long enough in extreme cold conditions. As the arctic ice disappears, I am also con- cerned that the Chinese illegal fishing fleets will soon eventually reach into our Exclu- sive Economic Zone in the western Arctic and deplete our natural resources. They are reported to be fishing in Vietnam's EEZ under the protection of the Chinese Coast Guard. Their illegal harvesting of fish in the central part of the Arctic is also of con- cern when the fishing moratorium there ends, in 2037. In the past, we contributed significantly to global security. It has been said that Canada truly became a nation through our contribution during World War I. During the Second World War, some 700,000 Ca- nadians served in uniform out of a popula- tion of 12 million. We had the fourth larg- est navy. We did our part during the Korean War. For decades, we contributed signifi- cantly to the United Nations peacekeep- ing missions. In part, it was to prevent a local conflict to degenerate into a war that would involve us directly. No longer! And although we did contribute importantly in Afghanistan, we are now known as a de- fence freeloader. We are publicly criticized internationally for not pulling our weight! One of the low-hanging fruits in terms of increasing our defence contribution to our allies is to join missile defence. Canada is the only NATO country not part of it. Allowing related systems on our soil will increase its collective effectiveness and in- crease the deterrence value of that system. Canada should consider bringing the Canadian Coast Guard back under the De- partment of National Defence and formal- ly task it to actually guard and defend the coast along with its traditional functions. We must also invest in defence infra- structure further north. Canadian Forces Station Alert needs to be reinforced. Resolute Bay, Nunavut, which is already hosting several federal facilities is strategi- cally located on the Northwest Passage and could be further developed as a security hub. It would support Canadian Forces and Coast Guard operations, the delivery of all federal services such as search and rescue and environmental response, and generate northern business opportunities. Two companies are working to establish a fiber optic cable through the Arctic. Such a cable would further support the devel- opment of Resolute Bay. The Department of National Defence could then host our own and our allies' space assets for defence purposes such as earth observation down- load stations, air defence radar, communi- cation satellites or missile defence assets. It is clear that Canada, with its small pop- ulation and relatively insignificant armed forces, cannot defend the second largest country in the world on its own. We do this through alliances such as NORAD and NATO. But we cannot expect our al- lies to come to our help when we do not invest sufficiently in our own defence. The 4 August 2023 IPSO survey indi- cated that the majority of Canadians sup- port increasing defence spending, especial- ly when it comes to the protection of our Arctic (74%). Even the Business Council of Canada has joined the call to spend more on defence. Politicians now have the popular support to do so. Will they finally act to fulfill their primary responsibility, that to properly provide for the security of Canadians? Reprinted with permission, The Hill Times, February 2025 Colonel (Retired) Pierre Leblanc is an expe- rienced Arctic practitioner. White Glacier is one of his clients. Also, the new MQ-9B long range drones presently under construction will be a great addition for monitoring the Arctic and increase the all important "domain awareness", which is lacking in the Canadian Arctic according to the Auditor General of Canada in its 2023 Report Number 6. MQ-9B Photo: General Atomics

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