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Prime Minister Mark Carney announced billions for defence upgrades in Canada’s far north, boosting the country’s military presence after the White House complained about its vulnerabilities in the region.
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The projects announced on Thursday include $32 billion for improvements to the airfields, fuel facilities and ammunition storage at four northern bases. The spending “will enable the Canadian Armed Forces to defend the Arctic without the help of allies,” the government said in a statement.
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The bases also form part of Canada’s contribution to the North American Aerospace Defense Command known as NORAD, the joint air-defence system it has operated with the U.S. since the 1950s. The $32 billion is part of funding for NORAD modernization announced several years ago and will be spent over 10 years or more, a senior government official said in a background briefing.
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Carney made the announcement in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. From there, he will travel to Norway, where he plans to meet with allies and observe North Atlantic Treaty Organization training exercises, and the U.K.
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The government will also create new military operational support centres in the northern communities of Whitehorse, Resolute, Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet.
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The centers are meant to provide support to all parts of the region, no matter how remote. There will be space that meets the necessary security requirements to store F-35s or other fighter jets, the government official said, speaking on condition they not be identified discussing the matter. Carney’s government is reviewing its contract for 88 F-35s from U.S.-based Lockheed Martin Corp, and considering replacing part of the order with Gripen jets from Sweden’s Saab AB.
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“We will no longer rely on others to defend our Arctic security or to fuel our economy,” Carney said in prepared remarks. “We are taking full responsibility for defending our sovereignty.”
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U.S. President Donald Trump and members of his administration have criticized and at times mocked Canada for its small military. During his January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he made the case that the U.S. should own Greenland, Trump said: “They should be grateful to us. Canada lives because of the United States.”
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One of Carney’s first moves after winning an election last April was to accelerate increases in defense spending so that Canada reaches its NATO commitment of two per cent of gross domestic product.
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The government is also sending a series of road, port and electricity generation proposals to its Major Projects Office, an entity that helps secure financing for the infrastructure projects and shepherds them through regulatory hurdles.
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These proposals include the Mackenzie Valley Highway, an 800 kilometre road that would connect the towns of Yellowknife and Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, and the Grays Bay Road and Port, a planned deep-water port on the Arctic Ocean.
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A planned doubling of that territory’s hydroelectricity generation is also being referred to the Major Projects Office.
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Carney also announced funding for airport upgrades in Rankin Inlet and Inuvik to allow larger aircraft to land.
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