{"id":492028,"date":"2026-01-04T15:33:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T15:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/492028\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T15:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T15:33:16","slug":"a-new-cold-war-canada-looks-to-bolster-arctic-security-sovereignty-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/492028\/","title":{"rendered":"A new \u2018cold\u2019 war? Canada looks to bolster Arctic security, sovereignty – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

An increasingly aggressive Russia coupled with China\u2019s growing influence have renewed Canada\u2019s focus on Arctic defence and sovereignty \u2014 and how to assert control over its remote northern geography.<\/p>\n

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The focus is on both increased surveillance \u2014 knowing what and who is poking around up there \u2014 and having military assets in place to deter any aggressor before they consider operating in Canada\u2019s North.<\/p>\n

The conversation is being driven by the climate crisis, opening up new areas of the Arctic for resource extraction and shipping lanes, and has expanded beyond Canada, asserting its sovereignty to both defence and national security concerns.<\/p>\n

But despite melting ice and opening shipping lanes, Canada\u2019s North remains a difficult place to operate in, which is why ensuring adversaries think twice before operating in the region is preferable to having to defend it, according to retired Maj.-Gen. Denis Thompson.<\/p>\n

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\u201cClearly deterrence is preferable to having to go up and defend it. And that means having credible assets at hand, not necessarily based in the Arctic, but able to operate out of the Arctic,\u201d said Thompson in an interview with Global News.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat can include aircraft, it can include ships, obviously, submarines and a limited army capability since the Rangers are already in place. I think the big thing from a military perspective is we need to know what\u2019s up there and that speaks to this concept of surveillance from the seabed to space all across our country, including importantly in the Arctic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s inaugural budget last month included a $1 billion, four-year fund to improve \u201cdual-use\u201d infrastructure projects for both civilians and the military, such as airports, seaports and all-season roads.<\/p>\n

But aside from military preparedness and infrastructure, the discussion around Arctic intelligence \u2014 and counter-espionage \u2014 has become more prominent in recent years.<\/p>\n

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Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director Daniel Rogers said the agency is aware of both cybersecurity and traditional espionage threats targeting governments and the private sector operating in Canada\u2019s Arctic.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada is a proud Arctic nation, and the global Arctic has become a theatre of increased interest due to its economic and strategic potential. Non-Arctic states, including the People\u2019s Republic of China, seek to gain a strategic and economic foothold in the region. Russia, an Arctic state with a significant military presence in the region, remains unpredictable and aggressive,\u201d Rogers said in a speech about national security threats in November.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBoth those countries, and others, have a significant intelligence interest in our Arctic and those who influence or develop its economic or strategic potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s noteworthy that Rogers namechecked both China and Russia, according to University of Calgary Prof. Rob Huebert.<\/p>\n

Huebert said defending Canada\u2019s Arctic includes paying attention to \u201cinformation\u201d warfare \u2014 hostile countries spreading narratives or misinformation aimed at dividing Canadians or Canada from its allies. There are three levels to that \u201cbattle\u201d in the North, Huebert said: creating distrust among elements of Canadian society to distract them from outside threats, dividing \u201cpolitical elites\u201d from each other, and dividing Canada from the United States.<\/p>\n

In those efforts, countries hostile to Canada have an advantage: U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Global News reported earlier this year that polling indicates that Canadians in the north view the current U.S. administration as a greater threat than either China or Russia.<\/p>\n

The fact that Trump\u2019s new national security strategy, released earlier this month, makes clear the administration views itself as having a free hand to act militarily in the Western hemisphere is unlikely to diminish those concerns.<\/p>\n

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