A I R S H I P S
www.vanguardcanada.com JUNE/JULY 2025 11
B Y C O M M A N D E R N O R M N O R M A N D, M B A , P C S C , C D
T
he recent comments regarding Canada becoming the 51st state
are exacerbated by the fact that there is no single Office of Pri-
mary Interest (OPI) for Canadian sovereignty. Sovereignty rep-
resents "supreme authority within a territory." For sovereignty
to be exercised, two elements must be present: authority and
territory. A state may perceive that it has authority over territory but can be
said to exert sovereignty over that region only if it has uncontested authority
over that territory. Currently, the Northern regions of Canada are unable to
be surveilled (other than by satellite when available). This creates a sover-
eignty void. The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) would seem to be the logical
choice for a single OPI to help fill that void in the expression of Canadian
sovereignty but there are many other "fingers" in the Canadian "sovereignty
pie". A veritable alphabet soup of federal government departments has a stake
in Canadian sovereignty, especially in the North. See below for many of these
federal government stakeholders:
CANADA'S
SOVEREIGNTY VOID
AND NORTHERN SECURITY GAPS AMID U.S. INFLUENCE
Figure 1: Federal Government Departments with a Stake in Canadian Sovereignty
Hybrid Airships. Photo: Lockheed Martin
