TRUE NORTH STRONG?
Our undefended Arctic
This month, Canada’s largest annual arctic sovereignty exercise (Nanook 2017) will take place in Nunavut and Labrador.
As with each and every sovereignty exercise, the vaunted Canadian Rangers, our so-called “Arctic soldiers” will be touted by the Armed Forces and government as the permanent military symbol of Canada’s determination to assert its sovereignty in the region.
This is not far from reality since, apart from a tiny shell of administrative, technical and aviation support staff, the Rangers are our only permanent military presence in the North.
Joint Task Force North also has a small squadron of four to six twin-engined Otter aircraft used to transport supplies. The aircraft are older than our current prime minister.
A component of the reserves, the Canadian Rangers are organized in a series of patrols throughout Canada’s North.
But just how secure should we feel knowing that our Rangers are on duty? Dispense with the standard cheesy accolades and one can see that, operationally, the Rangers are not much more than a public affairs ruse aimed at placating Canadians into believing that Canada is actually taking Arctic defence seriously.
Granted, the Canadian Rangers do occasionally assist in search and rescue and may provide other needed public assistance in their communities. But place our Rangers under an operational military lens and all one sees is a network of minimally trained, non-combat, part-time auxiliaries. The Canadian Ranger recruit receives all of 10 days’ military training. Most are not employed in a continuous, professional, manner. They do not have a uniform (other than sweatshirts and ball caps) and are usually required to supply their own snowmobiles when “on patrol.”
Thus it should not come as a surprise that Canadian Rangers are in no way expected to go into military combat. As each Rangers unit is allotted about 12 days of paid employment for the year, we can hardly expect them to provide any systematic sovereignty patrol in the Arctic.
And when it comes to weaponry, Canada’s “Arctic soldiers” are still armed with museum-worthy Second World War rifles — though these rifles are finally being replaced, after 70 years.
By placing minimally trained, non-combat, part-time reserve auxiliaries as the symbol of Canadian resolve to assert our sovereignty, we are, in essence, saying that Arctic sovereignty is not a responsibility we as a nation are willing to take seriously.
Otherwise we would be doing what the Danes, Norwegians, Finns, Swedes, Russians and Americans have been doing for decades. That is to maintain fulltime, well-equipped, professional and specialized “boots in the snow” ready to assert and defend their Arctic sovereignty.
By way of comparison, Denmark, Canada’s eastern Arctic neighbour, is, like us, tasked with defending its territory of Greenland, a remote land mass far greater in size than its more populated southern area.
Yet, this progressive country’s vision of Arctic sovereignty involves an elite, specially trained and equipped regular military unit called Slaedepatruljen Sirius (Sirius Sled Patrol). These professional military operators are full-time, trained members of the Danish Forces who go through a rigorous six- to eight-month selection and training process in areas such as winter survival, demolition, reconnaissance and first aid.
Once deployed, they are expected to be able to operate in small independent teams in extreme cold for long periods of time, patrolling the entire length and breadth of Greenland through every season and through every type of weather.
Nothing remotely equivalent to this “in the snow” capability exists in Canada.
Similar contrasts can be made when our Rangers stand against Norway’s Sor-Varanger garrison, which continually patrols that country’s 196-kilometre remote border with Russia. Likewise lacking among our Canadian Rangers is the intense winter warfare training and modern military equipment seen in Sweden’s Norrbotten Regiment or Finland’s famed Jaeger Brigade, both of which stand guard above the Arctic Circle. These Scandinavian Arctic defenders are trained combat soldiers who do not have to provide their own snowmobiles and whose uniforms go beyond ball caps and sweatshirts.
The Sor-Varanger garrison has actually been reinforced in recent months with a detachment of elite Army Rangers.
But regardless of how our Canadian Rangers might compare, they deserve our utmost respect and support. Why? Because our Rangers are exactly the kind of defence we Canadians think we deserve in the North.
Go, Rangers! Robert Smol served for more than 20 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. He is currently an educator and writer in Toronto.