Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says a Tory government would build a permanent military base in Canada’s Arctic as part of a proposal to assert sovereignty in the North.
Poilievre made the announcement while visiting Iqaluit, Nunavut, on Feb. 10, noting Russia and China’s increased involvement in the Arctic.
“This is a wake up call,” Poilievre said. “We need to become self-reliant and protect our interests and our sovereignty.”
Aspiring federal leaders have been making pledges to reinforce Canada’s security in recent days in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing comments about his desire to make Canada the 51st U.S. state.
Poilievre was visiting the capital of Nunavut to announce the first part of his “Canada First Plan” to “take back control” of Canada’s northern territory.
Poilievre said the proposed military facility in Iqaluit would be an air force wing to accommodate F-35 fighter jets and Poseidon P-8 surveillance aircrafts. Iqaluit currently has an airport that can accommodate Canadian military and NORAD operations.
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Poilievre said the new facility would be built within two years and “100 percent” of the funds would come out of Canada’s foreign aid budget.
“All of these improvements will be funded by dramatically cutting foreign aid, most of which or a lot of which goes to dictators, terrorists, and global bureaucracies,” said Poilievre.
Other planks of the Conservative Arctic platform include doubling the amount of Canadian Rangers patrolling the north, and the purchase of two heavy icebreakers for the navy.
Previous efforts to reinforce Canada’s military presence in the Arctic have been delayed.
The Nanisivik Naval Facility near Arctic Bay, announced by the Stephen Harper government in 2007, was initially supposed to become operational in 2015.
A report by Canada’s auditor general says work on the facility started in 2015. The docking and refuelling facility is expected to open this year, the report said. The Department of National Defence previously cited the challenges of infrastructure work in the Arctic due to harsh weather as the reason for the delay.
The federal government has commissioned two new icebreakers for the Coast Guard and entered a pact with the United States and Finland last year to improve the building of icebreakers. Ottawa also launched its “Arctic Foreign Policy” in December, which seeks to boost cooperation with the United States and Denmark.
Canada’s defence policy update, also released last year, says the “most urgent and important task we face is asserting Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic.” The policy update earmarks $218 million over 20 years for “Northern Operational Support Hubs” to establish a greater year-round presence in the region.
Ottawa had committed in 2022 to the modernization of the North American Aerospace Defense Command with a $38 billion pledge, which includes upgrading the forward operating locations at Iqaluit and elsewhere.
Poilievre said these commitments would go ahead under a Conservative government, pledging they would be fulfilled at a faster pace by “cutting red tape and delays.”
“If we are to be a sovereign, self-reliant nation, we must take control of our north, secure all of our borders, and stand on our own two feet,” he said. “We cannot count on the Americans to do it for us anymore. This is a reality.”
