The Military and “Mob Rule”: The CEF Riots in Calgary, February 1916

During the First World War, unruly and ill-disciplined Canadian soldiers, on “assorted ’patriotic’ pretexts,” damaged local property and battled with local police forces in Victoria, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Campbellton, New Brunswick, and other Canadian centres. The riots in Calgary in February 1916 involved members of Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) battalions encamped near the city. While historians have focused on the anti-German nature of the attacks, several other considerations must be examined to explain the unlawful behaviour. Although a court of inquiry into the riot failed to conclude who was responsible, the contemporary evidence suggests strongly that soldiers, rather than civilians, started the disturbances. But what conditions allowed such behaviour to occur? The military context of the time offers insight. Recruitment, training and discipline were all factors, as was the nearness of the soldiers’ camp to Calgary. The military, however, denied responsibility, arguing that the culprits were “civilians” in uniform. By refusing to compensate the owners of local establishments for the damages caused during the riots, local and national military authorities made worse a problem they should have prevented

Conceiving and Executing Operation Gauntlet: The Canadian-Led Raid on Spitzbergen, 1941

In August and September 1941, Canadian Brigadier Arthur Potts led a successful but little known combined operation by a small task force of Canadian, British, and Norwegian troops in the Spitzbergen (Svalbard) archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. After extensive planning and political conversations between Allied civil and military authorities, the operation was re-scaled so that a small, mixed task force would destroy mining and communications infrastructure on this remote cluster of islands, repatriate Russian miners and their families to Russia, and evacuate Norwegian residents to Britain. While a modest non-combat mission, Operation Gauntlet represented Canada’s first expeditionary operation in the Arctic, yielding general lessons about the value of specialized training and representation from appropriate functional trades, unity of command, operational secrecy, and deception, ultimately providing a boost to Canadian morale. Interactions also demonstrated the complexities of coalition warfare as well as the challenges associated with civil-military interaction in the theatre of operations

Tommy Prince: Warrior

Over the last decade, there has been a flurry of interest in the Aboriginal men and women who served in the world wars and Korea. No one is more famous than Sergeant Thomas George Prince, MM (1919–77), one of the most decorated non-commissioned officers in Canadian military history. Yet he remains, to most Canadians, an unknown figure

The Joint Arctic Weather Stations

This is the first systematic account of the Joint Arctic Weather Stations (JAWS), a collaborative science program between Canada and the United States that created a distinctive state presence in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from 1946-1972. These five meteorological stations, constructed at Eureka, Resolute, Isachsen, Mould Bay, and Alert, became remote hubs for science and sovereignty, revealing the possibilities and limits of modernity in the High Arctic. Drawing on extensive archival evidence, unpublished personal memoirs, and interviews with former JAWS personnel, this book systematically analyzes the diplomatic, scientific, social, environmental, and civil-military dimensions of this binational program. From the corridors of power in Washington and Ottawa to everyday life at the small outposts, The Joint Arctic Weather Stations explores delicate statecraft, changing scientific practices, as well as the distinctive station cultures that emerged as humans coped with isolation in polar environments

Northern and Arctic Security and Sovereignty: Challenges and Opportunities for a Northern Corridor

Key Messages Key issues related to Canada’s security and defence agenda, which involve critical and essential infrastructure development, must be considered in the development and implementation of a Canadian Northern Corridor (CNC). Canada’s northern and Arctic security and defence agenda is related to several key policy domains that are relevant from a CNC perspective. These include infrastructure development, climate change, Indigenous sovereignty and natural resource development. A CNC will gain international attention and be internationally recognized as a strategy for Canada to assert its sovereignty over its Arctic territory, including the internationally disputed Northwest Passage. The CNC advocates for the inclusion and participation of Indigenous communities. Thus, Indigenous Peoples will also carry a significant role in the monitoring and surveillance of accessibility within and to the North, improved through enhanced infrastructure development. Canada’s investments in Arctic defence infrastructure are modest comparedto those of its Russian and American neighbours. A CNC, potentially adding strategically important infrastructure in the Canadian North, will directly tie into the discourse of Arctic security and power relations. In addition to natural disasters, the Canadian North is at significant risk of human-made disasters that pose serious prospective challenges for northerners and for federal and territorial governments. The CNC will likely foster the development of surveillance and monitoring assets. The CNC rights-of-way could trigger security concerns regarding the impactof foreign investment as a security threat, especially if natural resource development is coupled with the development of strategic transportation hubs, such as ports along the coast of the Arctic Ocean. CNC transportation infrastructure would also become a part of Canada’s defence strategy as it forms a potential key asset in the defence and safeguarding of Canada’s northern and Arctic regions. Future research should identify the role of dual-use infrastructure (infrastructure that satisfies both military and civilian purposes) in the CNC context and also examine to what extent security and defence stakeholders should be involved in the CNC’s planning and implementation

The Russian Arctic Council Chairmanship: National Security Considerations in the Shadow of Regional Cooperation

From May 2021 to 2023, Russia will hold the chairmanship of the Arctic Council for the second time in the forum’s history. As chair, it will lead the collective efforts of the foremost regional deliberative body, comprised of the eight Arctic nations, six permanent participants representing Arctic Indigenous Peoples, six working groups, and thirty-nine observer states, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations. This represents a critical opportunity for the host country to orchestrate focused attention on the importance of the Arctic through its particular lens

“A Great Investment in Our Communities”: Strengthening Nunavut’s Whole-of-Society Search and Rescue Capabilities

Community-based organizations along with territorial, provincial, and federal agencies are responsible for search and rescue (SAR) in the Canadian Arctic. In delivering response capabilities at all hours of the day and for 365 days a year, the community-based organizations face a wide array of challenges. Using the data collected through the Kitikmeot Search and Rescue Project and the Kitikmeot Roundtable on SAR, coupled with academic and non-government organization literature, this article explores the major challenges facing community SAR organizations in Nunavut and builds a case for how targeted investment can best bolster community-based capabilities. We suggest novel, practical, and holistic solutions that have been proposed by or co-devised with community partners, are rooted in the unique context of Nunavut’s communities, and are reflective of a community resilience-building approach. One set of recommendations involves strengthening current programming, including the expansion of Nunavut Emergency Management’s inReach program, continued support for the enlargement of the CCGA, streamlining the process to activate Canadian Ranger patrols, and encouraging greater cooperation in the provision of training by federal and territorial agencies. We also propose new approaches, including a whole-of-society preventative SAR program centred on educational and youth programming, the adoption of a SAR equipment usage rate model, and the launch of a Community Public Safety Officer program in Nunavut. Finally, to justify greater investment at the community level, we argue that policymakers must change how they conceptualize community-based SAR capabilities in Nunavut. An effective SAR system is about more than the ability to respond to emergency events. It is a critical enabler to broader objectives and goals prioritized in the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework and other federal, territorial, and Inuit strategies. Dans l’Arctique canadien, les activités de recherche et sauvetage (SAR) relèvent des organisations communautaires ainsi que des organismes territoriaux, provinciaux et fédéraux. Les organisations communautaires doivent fournir ces services 24 heures sur 24, 365 jours par année et ce faisant, elles éprouvent toutes sortes de difficultés. S’appuyant sur les données du projet de recherche et sauvetage de Kitikmeot et de la table ronde de Kitikmeot sur les activités de SAR, ainsi que sur la documentation des organisations non gouvernementales et universitaires, cet article explore les principales difficultés auxquelles les organisations de SAR font face au Nunavut et démontre comment un investissement ciblé peut rehausser les capacités communautaires. Nous suggérons des solutions pratiques, nouvelles et holistiques proposées ou conçues en collaboration avec des partenaires communautaires, enracinées dans le contexte unique des collectivités du Nunavut et axées sur une approche communautaire visant le renforcement de la résilience. Un ensemble de recommandations consiste à solidifier les programmes actuels, dont l’expansion du programme inReach de gestion des urgences du Nunavut et de la Garde côtière auxiliaire canadienne, à rationaliser le processus d’activation des patrouilles des Rangers canadiens, et à favoriser une plus grande collaboration en ce qui a trait à la formation dispensée par les organismes fédéraux et territoriaux. Nous proposons aussi de nouvelles approches, dont un programme de SAR préventif pour l’ensemble de la société axé sur la programmation destinée aux jeunes et sur la sensibilisation, l’adoption d’un modèle du taux d’utilisation de l’équipement de SAR, et le lancement d’un programme d’agents de la sécurité publique communautaire au Nunavut. Pour conclure, afin de justifier un plus grand investissement au niveau communautaire, nous soutenons que les décideurs politiques doivent modifier leur façon de conceptualiser les capacités communautaires de SAR au Nunavut. L’efficacité d’un système de SAR ne réside pas seulement dans la capacité à intervenir en cas d’urgence. Il s’agit aussi d’un instrument critique permettant d’élargir les buts et les objectifs priorisés dans le cadre de référence des politiques de l’Arctique et du Nord et d’autres stratégies fédérales, territoriales et inuites.

China's Arctic Ambitions and What They Mean for Canada

China’s Arctic Ambitions and What They Mean for Canada is one of the first in-depth studies of China’s increasing interest in the Arctic. It offers a holistic approach to understanding Chinese motivations and the potential impacts of greater Chinese presence in the circumpolar region, exploring resource development, shipping, scientific research, governance, and security. Drawing on extensive research in Chinese government documentation, business and media reports, and current academic literature, this timely volume eschews the traditional assumption that Chinese actions are unified and monolithic in their approach to Arctic affairs. Instead, it offers a careful analysis of the different, and often competing, interests and priorities of Chinese government and industry. Analyzing Chinese interests and activities from a Canadian perspective, the book provides an unparalleled point of reference to discuss the implications for the Canadian and broader circumpolar North