Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/1537168
A I R S H I P S www.vanguardcanada.com JUNE/JULY 2025 13 to also conduct surveillance and increase visibility. Ultimately sovereignty represents "supreme authority within a territory." For sovereignty to be exercised, two elements must be present: authority and territory. This becomes particularly pertinent to Can- ada's claim of sovereignty over the Arctic. If the Canadian government is unable (or less able) to exercise authority over the activi- ties in the region than another party, it no longer can claim to have sovereignty over that region. As discussed in this paper, Air- ships could help in the expression of Ca- nadian sovereignty which could disrupt or even terminate any future discussions about it becoming the 51st state. Not only that, but this investment could go a long way to improving the quality of life of local in- habitants by reducing the cost of living as well as opening the vast mineral wealth that Canada has to the rest of the world. References: 1. Canada. Statistics Canada, The Cana- dian Transportation System Ottawa: Transportation Data and Information Hub, 2018. 2. Canada. Critical Minerals Centre of Excellence, Canada's critical minerals Ottawa: Critical minerals in Canada, 2025. Available at: https://www. canada.ca/en/campaign/critical-min- erals-in-canada/critical-minerals-an- opportunity-for-canada.html (accessed: 16 Jan 2025). 3. D'Andrea A. (2023) "We now know the path the Chinese spy balloon took over Canada", Global News. Posted 17 February 2023. Available at: https:// globalnews.ca/news/9494290/chi- nese-spy-balloon-flight-path-canada/ (accessed: 16 Jan 2025). 4. Ibrahim, A. (2024) "The Arctic Geopolitics: Melting Ice and Ris- ing Tensions", Modern Diplomacy, Posted 23 November 2024. Avail- able at: https://moderndiplomacy. eu/2024/11/23/the-arctic-geopol- itics-melting-ice-and-rising-tensions/ (accessed: 16 Jan 2025). 5. O'Dwyer, M. (2024) "More on Northern Access: Airships and the (Possible) Rise of Nanotubes", The Land Economist. vol. 54 no. 2. 6. Prentice, B. and Normand N. (2023) "Airships Logistics Circuit for Arctic Security and Resupply", Conference Paper Presented at the 58th Canadian Transportation Research Forum. Pre- sented: 10 May 2023. 7. Prentice, B. and Normand, N. (2024) "Airships for the Arctic", Canadian Defence Review. vol. 30 issue 1 (pp. 60-69) . 8. Zalta, Edward N. "Sovereignty", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2020 Edition): accessed 8 March 2021, https://plato.stanford.edu/ entries/sovereignty/. Cdr. Normand is an active-duty Naval Logis- tician for the Royal Canadian Navy. He has written extensively on the use of airships to logistically connect the northernmost re- gions of Canada to the rest of the country in order to exert sovereignty, increase living standards, and unlock Canada's stranded mineral wealth. He is currently working with Defence Research and Development Canada to produce an "IDEaS" (Innovation for De- fence Excellence and Security) challenge to industry that seeks to achieve these aims. Figure 4: Potential Airship Reach Within 12/24hrs from Hay River – One Airship 8