The leader of the Conservative Party has announced that party's intention to build a Canadian Forces base (CFB) in Iqaluit to increase our security in the Arctic.
I am puzzled!
Our present enemy is Russia. One of the Russian threats to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is from the North. Iqaluit is some 2,100 km from Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert. It is also some 1,500 kilometres from the Northwest Passage. The Northwest Passage is within the internal waters of Canada, but that position may well be challenged given the present collapsing of the international rules-based order.
More puzzling is that the pacing threat for the USA and Canada is China. Iqaluit is some 2,400 km from the western edge of the Arctic Archipelago and 200 nautical more to the edge of our western Exclusive Economic Zone. The latter could see an addition of hundreds of kilometres of additional continental shelf once our Arctic claims are accepted. Most of the recent interceptions of Russian and Chinese bombers have been north of Alaska. It does not make sense to build a base on the East Coast when the main threat will be thousands of kilometres on our Western coast!
True, Iqaluit has defence infrastructure on which to build. It has a small port, a forward operating location for CF-18 fighter jets and a long runway. The lay of the land, however, will make it costly to increase all the facilities required to support a large increase in permanent personnel. CFB Iqaluit would be hard-pressed to support air operations on our western flank. It is 2,300 km from the centre of the archipelago, making refuelling of the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard challenging, at best.
Inuvik could have been a better western location since it has a runway being upgraded for the CF-35 and it has a forward operating location upon which to build. Inuvik is large enough to absorb an important influx of personnel. It is connected by road to southern Canada. Unfortunately, it does not have access to a proper, deep-sea port. Although there is now a road connecting Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean, the ocean is very shallow to a distance of about 25 kilometres, which prevents the construction of a deep-sea port. Tuktoyaktuk is also threatened by the rise of the ocean and considered for relocation to higher ground.
Multi-purpose location
As previously mentioned, Resolute Bay is, in my opinion, a better strategic location. To start with, it's sitting on both the classical Northwest Passage and the most used of the seven possible transit routes. Thus, the vast majority of the shipping sails by Resolute Bay. The channel at that point is only about 35 kilometres and easily monitored, both above and below the surface. The lay of the land would make it easy to expand the federal facilities already existing. It would reduce the 2,900-km gap between our CF-18 forward operation locations in Inuvik and Iqaluit. Being farther north, it would be better able to support fighter operations up to Canadian Forces Alert at the northern tip of Ellesmere Island.
From Resolute Bay, it would also be easier to monitor activity in our Arctic as well as support search and rescue, environmental response, safety and security operations. Deployment time of resources from Resolute Bay would be approximately the same in all directions of the archipelago.
On several occasions, I recommended that Resolute Bay be further developed to host a multi-departmental facility that be would be anchored on an all-seasons paved runway supported by modern instrumented approaches and a long-range air defence radar to support fighter operations. The facility could also host a network of sub-surface monitoring devices, a polar orbit satellite download antenna farm, a protected docking facility and a ship and aircraft refuelling capability.
This multi-purpose facility would operate, in part, on a seasonal basis. During the active shipping season, the facility would see a peak in operations. Some personnel would be permanently stationed in Resolute Bay while others would be added to deal with increased seasonal activity.
The Canadian Forces could use the facility to support fighter operations, long-range maritime patrol aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (drone) used for Arctic surveillance. A long-range air defence radar would add to the North Warning System and the planned northern over-the-horizon radars. The enhanced runway and related facilities would support the Canadian ForcesSA国际影视传媒� and Coast GuardSA国际影视传媒檚 search and rescue operations and increase our ability to deliver under the Arctic CouncilSA国际影视传媒檚 Agreement On Cooperation On Aeronautical And Maritime Search And Rescue. The Resolute Bay location would also facilitate the deployment of boarding parties ready to deal with rogue vessels attempting to run the Northwest Passage, such as that New Zealand sailboat that ran the Northwest Passage despite a prohibition due to Covid risk to Inuit communities.
An appropriate fuel tank farm would permit Resolute Bay to become a refuelling facility to support the operations of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard. The latter already uses Resolute Bay to store environmental response kits and to effect crew changes and resupply.
Justifiable under defence spending
Transport CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 National Aerial Surveillance Program could use the facilities for refuelling and repairs. Nav Canada could utilize the data of the air defence radar in support of transpolar flights, depending on the situation with Russia. Resolute Bay Airport could become an alternate airport for such flights and increase alternate options for local traffic.
Natural Resources Canada already uses Resolute Bay to provide weather services and to support research in the Arctic through its Polar Continental Shelf Program. It's recognized that we lack a solid understanding of global warming as it affects the Arctic. To the extent increased research is merited in the Arctic, it would be well-supported from an enhanced facility.
The establishment of a multi-purpose facility in Resolute Bay would improve the delivery of services of other government departments, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, whose members could be deployed to deal with security issues or deployment of their Immediate Reaction Teams, as required. The Border Services of Canada (BSC) and Immigration Canada could facilitate the clearing of people who use Resolute Bay as a first point of entry into or exit out of Canada. The growing cruise ship industry has been using Resolute Bay for that purpose for decades and the number of adventurers is steadily increasing due to the disappearance of the ice. The facility would support Fisheries and Oceans for their fisheries patrols and Environment Canada for their ice patrols.
The development of Resolute Bay would potentially generate several commercial opportunities, such as a cold-weather testing centre, a liquified natural gas fuel farm to support the many ships that are shifting to this more environmental-friendly fuel, the establishment of a satellite download antenna farm similar to the one in Inuvik, a ship repair shop as well as grey waters and garbage storage and disposal facility for the adventurers who sail the Arctic and the cruise ship industry.
An approach drawing upon the full range of federal and territorial resources will increase opportunities for gainful employment for the people of the Arctic. Many of the operational and support positions could be filled by the residents of Resolute Bay and the adjacent Nunavut communities. Such employment would be challenging, rewarding and contribute to improving the capacity of Northern residents to achieve sustainable development goals in this challenging climatic environment.
The cost of developing this facility can be added to the efforts to increase our defence spending at a time of clear reasons for NATO countries to meet the pledge to invest up to two per cent of GDP in defence spending or the recently new proposed floor of five per cent of GDP.
Given the new adversarial relationship with the USA and our inability to trust any bilateral or international treaty they would sign, Canada would wise to invest seriously in our own defence.
