MPs Question Canadian Military Officials on Reported Russian Incursions Near Arctic

The Russian "50 Years of Victory" nuclear-powered icebreaker is seen at the North Pole on Aug. 18, 2021. (Ekaterina Anisimova/AFP via Getty Images)

MPs questioned Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) officials today on recent reports of Russian long-range bomber planes and submarines encroaching on the North American Arctic, a topic which was addressed by a senior Canadian military official earlier this week.

Lt.-Gen. Alain Pelletier, deputy commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), told the Senate defence committee on Nov. 21 that Russia has started ramping up its military presence close to the Canadian Arctic in both Atlantic and Pacific waters.

“The activities are not only limited to the long-range aviation,” he said. “Russia uses its submarines now both on the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast to actually demonstrate its strategic capabilities and to present a threat to North America.”

Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant today asked CAF Vice-Admiral Bob Auchterlonie how Canada’s military and National Defence Department are responding to these threats.

Auchterlonie said he would, at this point, characterize Russia as an adversary.

“We are in that competition, that conflict, above and below the threshold right now with Russia,” he said on Nov. 24 at the House of Commons national defence committee. “And that’s going to continue as we move forward.”

He also noted that Russia has recently been reinforcing its Arctic military assets, of which Pelletier informed the House national defence committee earlier this month.

Pelletier said that China is also a serious threat to Canada’s Arctic sovereignty.

Pelletier told the committee on Nov. 1 that China and Russia “have already modernized their Arctic infrastructure, deployed new coastal and maritime defense missile systems, upgraded their maritime forces, and increased military exercises and training operations with new command organizations dedicated to the Arctic.”

‘Blatant Disregard’

Auchterlonie told MPs today that the security of Canada’s Arctic becomes more uncertain as China and Russia increase their “blatant disregard” for international norms.

“You’ve seen Russia in their blatant disregard for international norms in Ukraine. You’ve seen China become more aggressive in its pursuit of its national goals,” he said.

“I think that’s going to translate into the Arctic as they look for that ... northern sea route to get their goods to Europe.”

Domain awareness in the Arctic will be a key to protecting Canada’s north, said Auchterlonie, echoing what Pelletier previously told the national defence committee.

Pelletier said on Nov. 1 that Canada’s Arctic surveillance abilities are in desperate need of modernization.

“It [the North Warning System] was designed back in the early 1980s,” Pelletier said, adding that it’s “very limited in its ability to actually detect the current threat presented by Russia right now and China in the future.”

Defence Minister Anita Anand announced in June that the federal government would be making significant investments in NORAD surveillance equipment over the next six years and spending a total of $40 billion on Arctic defence improvements over the next 20 years

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.