Northern defense concerns territorial premiers

Photo: The Canadian Press Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai, right, speaks to reporters with Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok before meeting with Canada's other prime ministers at Council of the Federation meetings in Halifax on Tuesday 16 July 2024.

The premiers of the territories want to be better informed about the threats looming over northern Canada.

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A week after the summit of NATO where the Trudeau government has committed to increasing its military spending, they deplored that Canada is 20 years behind in infrastructure investments in the Far North.

Territorial premiers spoke in Halifax Tuesday morning at a news conference on the sidelines of the Council of the Federation summer summit, which brings together premiers from all provinces.

The premiers of Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories suggested that they were poorly informed in real time by the federal government on security and defense issues, but that the situation was improving. has improved since a meeting with the federal Minister of Defense, Bill Blair, and his colleague at Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, in May.

The Far North is targeted by Russian and Chinese ambitions and coveted for its abundant resources, but Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok has avoided clearly identifying the states trying to challenge Canada.

He clarified, however, that there is no imminent threat in the North, according to the information provided during the meeting with Mr. Blair and Ms. Joly.

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