Carney’s $35B Arctic military base upgrade plan will please Trump: expert
Global News
Carney also said four northern projects, including the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor, are being referred to the Major Projects Office for expedited review and approval.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s announcement Thursday of a more than $35-billion plan to upgrade and expand Canada’s military presence in the Arctic is welcome news, one expert said, but is really meant for an audience of one: U.S. President Donald Trump.
The federal government says most of the funding — $32 billion — will go toward improvements at three NORAD forward operating bases in Yellowknife, Inuvik and Iqaluit, as well as the 5 Wing Goose Bay air base in Labrador. Those upgrades will include airfield improvements, fuel facilities, ammunition compounds and housing.
A new network of four northern operational support bases in Whitehorse and the Nunavut communities of Resolute, Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet will be backed by a $2.67-billion investment.
The network will allow the Canadian Armed Forces to operate year-round in the Arctic and deploy rapidly while there, the Prime Minister’s Office said, a key aim of Carney’s efforts to boost security in the far north.
“It’s clear that this amount of money — multiple tens of billions of dollars on military bases in the Arctic — that’s an announcement that’s designed to be heard by President Donald Trump,” said Michael Byers, a political science professor and military policy researcher at the University of British Columbia.
“This is a perfect response to the president’s rhetoric about the ’51st state.’ We’re saying as a country, ‘We’ve got this. We’re going to take care of Arctic security, we’re going get those critical minerals for you. We’re on your side. Leave us alone. We’re your friends, we’ll take care of these files.'”
Trump has repeatedly threatened Canada’s sovereignty in part by complaining about Canada’s ability to protect the Arctic — and subsequently all of North America — from potential threats emerging from Russia and China.
Carney has vowed to strengthen Canada’s contributions to NORAD and NATO through increased defence spending and a focus on rearming and rebuilding the Canadian Armed Forces, particularly in the Arctic.
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