The Beat Goes On: The Forces Are Picking Up the Tab

The DND counts up the costs of maintaining a presence at the top of the world:

Flying flag in the Arctic could cost Forces $843 million a year: documents

OTTAWA — Flying the flag in the Arctic could cost the Canadian military as much as $843 million annually, says a series of internal Defence Department cost estimates.

The bill for operation and maintenance would be on top of the estimated $4.5-billion capital outlay for new light icebreakers, a deepwater port and a support base, say the documents obtained by The Canadian Press under access-to-information laws.
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The Tories had initially proposed construction of three armed, heavy icebreakers to patrol the waters left open by receding ice packs. Experts predict the channels could be open to unimpeded summer navigation by 2015.

The ambitious $1.6-billion plan was abandoned in 2007 in favour of a $3.1-billion proposal to build as many as eight smaller icebreakers capable of operating off all three coasts. Although the current plan is more expensive, officials have defended it as better-suited for the navy.

The federal government has also proposed constructing a deepwater port and base in Nanisivik, Nunavut, and a winter warfare school of excellence.

The Defence Department cost estimates do not include what Ottawa would potentially spend on development and other non-military initiatives in the North.

The head of the army, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, conceded there will likely be a hefty pricetag, but the cost of doing nothing would be more damaging.

"Think of it as a return on investment," he said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press. "It's sovereign Canadian territory; so it's part of our land.

"Who knows what untold mineral wealth might lay beneath those lands? Who knows what possible impact of folk using our North might be?"

It's true. The arctic has unlimited potential, so whether we use it for ecological reserves, development of northern cities, or resource development, or any other use, the money spent now is a down payment on keeping our claim on the north current.