RUSSIA SENDING ‘STRATEGIC MESSAGE’ ON ARCTIC.
Recent Russian moves in the Arctic have renewed debate over that country’s intentions and Canada’s own status at the top of the world.
The newspaper Izvestia reported late last month that Russia’s military will resume fighter patrols to the North Pole for the first time in 30 years. The patrols will be in addition to regular bomber flights up to the edge of U.S. and Canadian airspace.
“It’s clearly sending strategic messaging,” said Whitney Lackenbauer, an Arctic expert and history professor at the University of Waterloo. “This is the next step.”
Russia has been beefing up both its civilian and military capabilities in its north for a decade.
Old Cold-war-era air bases have been rejuvenated. Foreign policy observers have counted four new Arctic brigade combat teams, 14 new operational airfields, 16 deepwater ports and 40 icebreakers with an additional 11 in development.
Bomber patrols have been steady. NORAD has reported up to 20 sightings and 19 intercepts a year.
Commercial infrastructure has kept pace as well. A vast new gas field has been opened in the Yamal Peninsula on the central Russian coast. Control and development of the Northern Sea Route — Russia’s equivalent of the Northwest Passage — has been given to a central government agency. Russian news sources say cargo volume is expected to grow to 40 million tonnes in 2020 from 7.5 million tonnes in 2016.
Canada has little to compare.
A road has been completed to the Arctic coast at Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories and work for a port at Iqaluit in Nunavut is underway. The first Arctic patrol vessel has been launched, satellite surveillance has been enhanced and a naval refuelling station built on Baffin Island.
But most northern infrastructure desires remain unfilled. And nearing the end of its term, the Liberal government has yet to table an official Arctic policy.
Global Affairs Canada spokesman Richard Walker said in an email that the government is “firmly asserting” its presence in the North to protect Canada’s sovereign Arctic territory.
Walker said Canada co-operates with all Arctic Council members, including Russia, to advance shared interests that include sustainable development and scientific research.
“Given the harsh environment and the high cost of Arctic operations, Canada believes that co-operation amongst Arctic nations is essential,” Walker wrote.
Canada needs to keep pace if only because it can’t count on the current international order to hold, said John Higginbotham of the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo.
“If the globalized system fragments, we’re going to get a world of blocs. The blocs will have power to close international shipping channels.
“It’s a dreadful strategic mistake for Canada to give up our own sea route.”