Patrolling the Arctic with the Canadian military
6/5/202627 min
As Canada builds out its military, there has been an increasing focus on arctic security. But military strategies that work in the southern part of the country do not always work in the North. Gavin John was embedded in a patrol with Canadian rangers as part of Operation Nanook-Nunalivut.
John, who covers national defence for The Globe, shares what it was like to patrol more than 1,000 km in the Arctic on a snowmobile and why a small group of rangers are an important component of Canada’s military strategy.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsPat Murphy· Soundbite0:00
[instrumental music] Look after your machine, look after your, your partying partner, look after yourself. Fatigue creeps quietly, manage it early. Okay? It's important. It's gonna be a two months, right? Not an afternoon.
Cheryl Sutherland· Host0:15
This is the voice of Master Warrant Officer Pat Murphy. He's briefing the First Canadian Ranger Patrol Group in an Air Force hangar in Inuvik, in the Northwest Territories, before heading out on a long-range patrol of Canada's Arctic coastline. This military exercise is particularly complex because the land is unforgiving and dangerous.
Pat Murphy· Soundbite0:38
I notice I am suffering. If you suffer and you're cold, speak up and, and be quick.
Cheryl Sutherland· Host0:45
The patrol is part of Operation NANOOK Nunavut, which is designed to secure Canada's northern regions. And joining the Rangers is journalist Gavin John.
Gavin John· Guest0:56
The purpose of the long-range patrol was for the Canadian Rangers and the Canadian Armed Forces to demonstrate their ability to move across some of the most difficult and hostile terrain on the planet.
Cheryl Sutherland· Host1:08
His goal was to get a sense of what it's really like to defend Canada's vast northern border.
Gavin John· Guest1:14
Canada's north and Canada's Arctic is some of the most dangerous terrain on the planet because it's not just one type of terrain. You have tundra, mountains, sea ice, temperatures that drop as low as -50, uh, without wind chill. And on top of that, there's