Accompanied by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Jens Stoltenberg will get a first-hand look at a North Warning System radar station in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut — part of a system set to be modernized as part of a multibillion-dollar overhaul of NORAD, the North American air defense system. It will also see Canadian soldiers – and possibly some troops from a few other allied nations – take part in Canada’s annual northern military exercise known as Operation Nanook. In a recent opinion piece published in the Globe and Mail, Stoltenberg noted the growing importance of Canada’s Far North as the West’s relationship with Moscow worsens over the war in Ukraine. “The shortest route to North America for Russian missiles or bombers would be over the North Pole,” the secretary general wrote. “This makes NORAD’s role vital to North America and to NATO.” The visit is significant as the Liberal government faces increased pressure from allies to take more responsibility for defending its northern approaches. In June, just before the last NATO summit, Defense Minister Anita Anand pledged to Canada to spend $4.9 billion over the next few years to update NORAD, a joint military command with the United States.
Ottawa earmarks funds for continental defence
The Liberal government also committed to a total investment in continental and northern defense that it says will exceed $40 billion over the next two decades. Ottawa has yet to fully explain how the money will be spent, other than to say that about $15 billion will go toward infrastructure upgrades. Speaking at 5 Wing Goose Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador on Wednesday, Anand said the base is one of four that will see improvements. He said the airport “will receive significant upgrades that will enable its continued ability to support NORAD operations and ensure the defense of North America.” “As we look around the world today,” he continued, “we recognize that our geography and our existing continental defenses no longer provide the same protection they once did.”
