Text and photos by Natalia Weichsel Mar. 13, 2025

A swarm of troops dressed in white and wearing snowshoes glide across a frozen valley.

Suddenly they stop, form a line, kneel and pull out their rifles. Smoke fills the air from the blanks fired at an excavator — today's stand-in for an enemy force.

Atop a nearby hill, a group of Canadian Rangers in orange vests watch the simulated attack. Huddled near a red warming tent, they wait for a signal before jumping on their snowmobiles and driving to the battleground.

If a military conflict came to Canada's North, it might look something like this.

Nearly 200 members of the 34th Canadian Brigade Group have travelled nearly 1,000 kilometres north to the Cree Nation of Chisasibi in the Eeyou Istchee from Montreal and Valcartier for an annual exercise they say is more important than ever.

In the context of rapidly shrinking sea ice in the Arctic and as United States President Donald Trump ramps up comments about annexing Canada, Ottawa is seeking to reassert its sovereignty in the North.

Last week, federal Defence Minister Bill Blair announced that spending on northern military infrastructure will increase tenfold over the next 20 years, with three operational support hubs in Iqaluit, Yellowknife and Inuvik, N.W.T. The money for the expansion had previously been allocated in the budget.

"We clearly shouldn't be relying on anyone else to defend our nation," Blair said at the announcement.

CBC and two other media organizations were invited to witness a military training exercise to better understand Canadian efforts to increase its military presence and capabilities in the Arctic.

“The hardest part was definitely the cold,” says Sgt. Matthieu Forester, lowering his neck warmer to reveal a frost-covered moustache. The deep snow also made it difficult to navigate through the valley while wearing snowshoes, he adds.

“We have to practise our techniques. We've been practising for a year to be ready for this kind of environment.”

Canada — along with its circumpolar allies — began to re-evaluate vulnerabilities in the North following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The invasion ended Arctic co-operation between Russia and those states, including Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and the U.S.

Russia and China are showing more interest in the North and its shipping routes as they both look to expand their presence in the region.

A recent Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) assessment obtained by The Canadian Press through access to information identified resource extraction projects, increasing ship traffic and the building of ports as some of the ways bad faith actors could use to gain ground in the Arctic.

“There's a lot of Russian military deployed in that region and theoretically, at least if they wanted to, they could land on any remote Canadian island and seize some territory," says Stéphane Roussel, a political science professor at the École nationale d'administration publique.

But Roussel warns of a bigger threat closer to home. He says the new American administration might want to challenge Canadian claims on some areas of the Arctic, namely the Northwest Passage.

The maritime route weaves through Canada’s Arctic Archipelago, stretching from north of Baffin Island right up until the Beaufort Sea, next to the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the longest coast Canada claims as sovereign.

In 2019, during the 11th Arctic Council ministerial meeting in Finland, former U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo accused Canada of making illegitimate claims to the Northwest Passage as internal waters.

“It's possible that the Trump administration wants to revive these conflicts and openly contest Canadian claims on this region,” Roussel said.
Knowledge of the land

During its week-long exercise, the brigade set up headquarters inside a building belonging to the Chisasibi Cree Nation, on the western shore of James Bay.

Canadian military activities in the Arctic and Subarctic often take place near Indigenous communities. The military says it needs their traditional knowledge and stewardship of the land more than ever.

"We don't know the maps; we don't know the people and we don't know the area," says Col. David Shane, commander of the 34th Brigade.

A group of Canadian Rangers based in Chisasibi are participating in the exercise.

Rangers are part of the Canadian Army Reserve and work in remote and isolated coastal regions of Canada. There are roughly 5,000 Canadian Rangers living in more than 220 communities across the country.

They train the Armed Forces with survival skills and traditional knowledge of the land. Rangers speak over 26 different languages and dialects, many of which are Indigenous.

Sgt. Alvin Cash, who is based in Chisasibi and is Cree, has been a Ranger for 15 years.

“Their head office is down south," Cash said, speaking about the brigade. "We are the ones actually up here providing them useful information."

“We use our own culture with how much we know the territory to provide that service and pass the information to the military," he said.

Rangers' services are helpful at home, too, Cash said — carrying out emergency search and rescue missions, conducting patrols and assisting with environmental disasters.

“We are the last resort people,” Cash said. “It's our regular mandate to always be on the lookout and we could be called in all of a sudden for a mission so we are always ready to go.”

The brigade chose the area near Chisasibi as its training ground for its winter conditions similar to the Arctic.

"It's an isolated area. The weather here is unpredictable. You could have all whiteouts," Cash said.

Though sparsely inhabited, the Arctic covers 40 per cent of the Canadian land mass, stretching over nearly four million square kilometres. The bitter cold, limited communication lines and infrastructure, as well as the absence of permanent military bases means troops have to be prepared for all kinds of situations.

“We need to be able to project our forces into an environment that nobody knows," Shane said.

When travelling north for these complex exercises, military vehicles embark on the 16-hour journey from Montreal and Valcartier, equipped with fuel, maintenance supplies and food. Snowshoes, toboggans, skis and radio antennas are also transported, along with the deployment of medical services, military planes and police.

Troops camp out in tents, preparing their food on camping stoves and learning to survive in a remote location.

The 34th Brigade reached out to Chisasibi Cree Nation Chief Daisy House last October as it was looking for a place to conduct the northern simulation.

House agreed to have the brigade use the Nation's Mitchuap building, a teepee-shaped structure with an auditorium where the brigade could set up tables with computers and maps.

“We warned the community that we'd have about 175 reservists coming among other dignitaries so that they'd be ready for that," said House. "And they said, 'we'll greet them as part of our custom and our culture to welcome guests.'"

House says community members shared traditional skills with the reservists, such as how to build a dwelling using small trees and a tarp or how to navigate Chisasibi’s 40 trap lines.

“[The land stewards] know their land more than anybody else. We cannot dictate or tell them what to do because their ancestors have been there for centuries and they know it best. And they've seen the changes and the evolution over the years,” she said.

#resisttrump #arctic #canada #canpol #canpolitics #uspol #uspolitics #never51 #elbowsup

Alt Text:
A snowy landscape with a dense forest of evergreen trees in the background. In the foreground, a group of soldiers dressed in white camouflage gear is moving through the snow. They are carrying rifles and appear to be in a tactical formation. There is a light mist or smoke in the air, partially obscuring the view of the soldiers and the trees. The scene conveys a sense of cold and military activity in a winter environment.

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A group of soldiers dressed in white camouflage winter gear are gathered in a snowy landscape. They are equipped with skis and snowshoes, and some are carrying rifles. The soldiers are standing near a large yellow construction vehicle, specifically a John Deere 180G LC excavator. The background features snow-covered ground and a line of trees, indicating a cold, forested environment. The soldiers appear to be engaged in a discussion or briefing.

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A soldier dressed in white camouflage gear is lying in the snow, aiming a rifle. The soldier is wearing a helmet and has a green tactical vest. Snowshoes are visible on the ground near the soldier's feet. The background features a snowy landscape with evergreen trees, creating a wintery forest setting.

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A person dressed in winter military gear stands in a snowy landscape. They are wearing a white camouflage jacket and a green balaclava covering their face, with dark ski goggles over their eyes. A communication device with a coiled wire is attached to their chest. In the background, there are snow-covered trees and a cloudy sky.