Arctic Front

English/Anglais
AS2006-0515a
21 August 2006
Pond Inlet, Nunavut
Photo by: Sgt Dennis Power

As Operation Lancaster wraps up with most personnel ashore in Pond Inlet on Baffin Island, HMCS Goose Bay and the Coast Guard ship Henry Larson rest at anchor.

Operation Lancaster is the major sovereignty operation being conducted in the Eastern Arctic during the summer of 2006. The operation is part of a broader initiative to increase the presence of the Canadian Forces in the Arctic. In addition to the Rangers from 1 CRPG, elements of the,Army, Air Force, Navy, and the Canadian Coast Guard will also be involved in the operation. The Operation is being staged out of Iqaluit on Baffin Island, and will take place in other communities on Baffin Island, as well as other islands in Lancaster Sound. 

The Canadian Forces maintains a military presence in the north through Joint Task Force (North) which is headquartered in Yellowknife, North West Territories. One of the roles of JTF(N) is to assist in maintaining Canadian sovereignty in the north, which is accomplished primarily with the Canadian Rangers, and military units from the south.
The Canadian Rangers are a Reserve component of the Canadian Forces who patrol remote northern and coastal areas. The rangers are formed into 5 different Canadian Ranger Patrol Groups (CRPG's), covering 5 geographic areas from coast to coast. 

Photo by: Sergeant Dennis Power
Army News-Shilo

A truly integrated volume by four of Canada’s leading Northern specialists, Arctic Front is a clarion call to all Canadians about our endangered Arctic region, challenging the country to step away from the symbols and myth making of the past and toward the urgent political, environmental and economic realities of the 21st century.

Unquestionably, this book deals with a subject of major public importance and interest. This is a substantial and accessible book that should be widely read by everyone interested in an insightful introduction to this subject.

Donner Prize Committee

With passion and sharp words, Arctic Front confronts Canada’s longstanding neglect of the Far North and outline what needs to be done to protect our national interest.

Through a lively and engaging history of the region, Arctic Front reveals how Canadians and their governments have

  • ignored this region for generations
  • expanded Canadian sovereignty over the past hundred years by reacting to other countries’ challenges
  • become the least effective of all circumpolar nations in responding to the needs of the Arctic
  • neglected our obligations to the North, including a failure to capitalize on the human and economic resources of this vast landor to establish a presence that would make any foreign claims to offshore resources inconceivable.

As global warming continues to melt the ice in the Northwest Passage and the competition for northern resources heats up, Canada, the authors warn, will be forced to defend this area from a position of grave weakness. Our leaders need to take action today, blending defense and development, to complete Canadian nation-building in this fragile region.

An energetic and engaging collaboration by four of Canada’s leading Northern specialists, Arctic Front is a clarion call to all Canadians about our endangered Arctic region, challenging the country to step away from the symbols and myth-making of the past and toward the urgent political, environmental and economic realities of the 21st century.

Ken Coates, Bill Morrison, Greg Poelzer, and Whitney Lackenbauer, Arctic Front: Defending Canadian Interests in the Far North (Toronto: Thomas Allen Publishers, 2008).

2008-arcticfront

Arctic Front tells the disturbing story of Canada’s absent-mindedness in Arctic policy-making over the decades. This history should fuel a heated national debate as the Arctic ice shrinks and new challenges to our sovereignty appear from all directions.

Tony Penikett, former NDP Leader and Premier of the Yukon

Arctic Front is a sobering synopsis of Canada’s claims to the Far North. It will likely become a hallmark reference text…. [F]or casual readers and serious fact-finders alike…

Winnipeg Free Press

A call to arms for a new era in Canadian culture and politics toward the North. Call it the Arctic Awakening. … Instead of making Arctic policy frightening or unbearably dull, Arctic Front reveals the subject as one of the most interesting foreign policy questions of the 21st century.

Yukon News