Watch: International law expert Michael Byers says feds need to start delivering on Arctic promises
TORONTO – If Canada really wants to flex its military muscle, it may need more than 50-year-old rifles.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in Nunavut Wednesday, meeting with the Canadian Rangers, shooting antique rifles and building an inukshuk.
But photo ops aside, Harper’s tour raises questions about Canada’s Arctic sovereignty.
There have been numerous assertions that Harper’s once-tough rhetoric on the federal government’s Northern strategy has gone largely unfulfilled.
Harper traversed the icy waters of the Northwest Passage with the Canadian Rangers – an arm of the military tasked with patrolling the remote and isolated areas of Canada’s North.
Watch: Stephen Harper made honourary Canadian Ranger
But many argue the resources for these volunteer reservists are seriously lacking.
The vintage rifles that Harper fired during target practice Wednesday are the standard-issue weapon for the Rangers.
For years, the army has been trying to replace the rifles – more than 50 years old – because there are so few manufacturers left who make spare parts for the .303 Lee Enfield rifles, first introduced to the British Army in 1895.
Byers said a number of promises made by Harper in 2007 – including Arctic offshore patrol ships and a deep water facility at Nanisivik – have gone unfulfilled.
“The replacement of the Rangers’ rifles is just a small part of that,” said Byers.
Prior to arriving in Nunavut, Harper said National Defence was still looking for a replacement, something he expects to happen over the next few years.
In addition to equipment, a 2012 Defence Science Advisory Board report on the Arctic stated the Rangers do not have training in air-mobile and water-borne operations, something that will become increasingly important in the coming years.
Read more: Shipping through the Northwest Passage – sooner than you think
*With files from Global News’ Mike Le Couteur and The Canadian Press
Comments