Inuvik once housed hundreds of military personnel. In the late 1980s, operations ceased, and with them the permanent presence in the Arctic.

While military exercises still take place in Inuvik and the Canadian Armed Forces still have bases in the town, the situation has come full circle and national defence leaders once again view Inuvik as a “very important site” in a multi-billion dollar plan to assert sovereignty over the Arctic.

During a three-day trip to Inuvik this week, Defense Minister Bill Blair told Cabin Radio: “We already have tremendous capability here, but we see great potential to invest even more and do even more here.”

“I think we can expect there to be significantly more investment here in the region, regardless of whether this is a permanent military base or not.”

Inuvik appears to be at the top of the list of northern communities hoping to be designated as a Northern Operational Support Centre.

These hubs are a pillar of Canada’s updated defence policy, released earlier this year, which will allocate $218 million over 20 years to develop them.

Each hub – there are expected to be five – will be designed to “enable a greater year-round presence in the Arctic and the North” and will be equipped with what Ottawa calls “multi-purpose infrastructure that, where possible, also meets the needs of territories, Indigenous peoples and northern communities.”

In other words, being designated an operational support centre in the North appears to be a lucrative opportunity for any local government to ensure that its long-term infrastructure needs are met.

When asked when communities would find out if they were on the list, Blair did not give a timetable and said a simple list of five selected communities might never emerge.

“We are looking across the entire North, from Alaska to Greenland to Labrador. I have already spoken very extensively with the three premiers of the North, and we are working very closely with the indigenous governments and the local governments to make sure we do it in the right place and also in the right way,” the minister said.

“It may not be an announcement like ‘Here are the five locations’, but we are looking very strategically at where our best opportunities lie and where the greatest need exists.

“Honestly, it’s very clear to me here in the Beaufort Delta that this is a strategically important location. There is existing infrastructure, we have great local partners here, and I think this is obviously a location that we will pay the utmost attention to.”

Read a transcript of our interview with Blair during his tour of Inuvik below.

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This interview was recorded on August 20, 2024. The transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

Ollie Williams: Your message during your trip was the importance of Inuvik as a key strategic location. What do you think makes Inuvik so important?

Bill Blair: Part of it is global positioning. One of the things we’ve just recently recognized in our new defence policy is the importance of Canada’s far north and the Arctic. For a number of reasons, the Arctic is becoming increasingly strategically important to Canada and our national defence. With climate change, it’s becoming much more accessible as a result of temperature changes, melting of the permafrost and the opening of the Arctic Ocean.

But we also have a huge responsibility to NORAD and our American partners for North American defence. For decades, Canada has perhaps underinvested in the infrastructure and resources that we need to meet our responsibility to defend the continent and the North. We recognise this and it is important that we need to make some very significant new investments in infrastructure – not just the infrastructure that the Canadian Armed Forces and our Air Force will need, but also infrastructure that will benefit the people of the North.

One might conclude that this inevitably means a larger, permanent military presence in Inuvik. Does this mean that you will eventually establish a base in Inuvik, perhaps as one of the new northern bases?

Actually, there used to be a base here. It was closed in the 1980s, but the Royal Canadian Air Force still has a presence here. They have housing and hangars here.

We are already investing heavily in the Zubko airport, and together with the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and the Gwich’in Tribal Council, we are committing $218 million to extend the runway from 6,000 to 9,000 feet. That will be important because with the new fighter jets that we are buying and some of the larger aircraft that we need to bring into the region, we not only need a runway, we need facilities to go with it.

So we’ve started making these really significant investments. For example, we’ve acquired the green hangar, which I think is another strategic asset that we can leverage. But there are more investments that need to be made.

Inuvik is a very important place. We already have very large capacity here, but we see great potential for further investment and activity. I think we can expect to see a lot more investment in the region, whether or not a full-time military base is built here.

When we talk about the Northern Operational Support Centers, it’s about the strategic placement of new infrastructure, new assets, and the ability to deploy and train people in the region. All of these things will require investment.

One of the reasons I came here to Inuvik is to talk to the mayor, the Gwich’in and the IRC. I had dinner with the commissioner last night. I think it’s going to be really important that we’re respectful and cooperative with the people who live and work in the region because we know we want to make some new investments here, but we also want that to benefit the people who live here – to create jobs, but also infrastructure in communications and fiber optics, energy generation, highways and runways.

When do you expect to be able to confirm where these northern operational support centres will be located?

We have identified five opportunities that we will invest in, looking across the entire North, from Alaska to Greenland to Labrador. I have already spoken very intensively with the three Northern Premiers, and we are working very closely with the Indigenous governments and the local governments to make sure that we do it in the right place and also in the right way.

It may not be an announcement of “here are the five locations,” but we are looking very strategically at where our best opportunities are and where the greatest need is. Frankly, here in the Beaufort Delta, it’s very clear to me that this is a strategically important location. There’s existing infrastructure, we’ve got great local partners here, and I think this is obviously a location that we’re going to pay the highest attention to.

You alluded to the green hangar in Inuvik that the Department of Defense previously leased. It hasn’t been used in recent years, so obviously the Department of Defense didn’t really need that hangar not that long ago. Now it’s designated as a strategic asset. What’s changed?

Some things have changed. First of all, in our new defence policy we have put a new emphasis on our responsibility for the security of the continent, and in particular we have recognised that the world is changing rapidly through climate change, through some of the new technological advances and through the actions of some of our potential adversaries, particularly Russia and China. Our north is a new theatre of concern and therefore also an opportunity for us to make really significant new investments here.

We have already started doing this. For example, one of the biggest changes is the investment in extending the runway at Zubko airport. This will allow us to bring fighter jets to the region and also allow larger aircraft to land here. To maintain this presence, we need to invest in new hangars and new maintenance facilities.

But the runway extension project was announced in 2019 and there wasn’t much interest in that hangar at that time, so it couldn’t have been the runway extension.

Well, it’s not part of the runway extension, but it’s also a realignment. We’re going to need a lot more infrastructure at Zubko Airport. We’re going to need to invest in new hangars. The commander of Cold Lake Air Force Base flew to see me yesterday. We were in the green hangar. We looked at what’s there now, and there’s potential. We can open the doors and put a Hercules aircraft there, for example.

I think a few years ago the Air Force may not have expected that it would receive the funding it needed to make the investments it needed. With our new defence policy, we have made a very strong commitment to provide almost $73 billion over the next 20 years and put a clear and strategic focus on our commitments to defend Canada in the North.

The runway project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2027. Are there any other concrete milestones that will help people see the changes these investments are making?

If you walk past the airport, you’ll see that construction is underway on the runway extension. The dates you mentioned, 2027, is when we’ll get the first F-35 aircraft. We’re getting 88 of them. Some of them will be based in the north, some in Cold Lake, some in Comox and on the east coast. To deploy these aircraft, we’re not just going to need that runway. We’re going to need new hangars. We’re going to need new facilities.

We were also the satellite station directly south of the city, another very important strategic advantage for the Canadian government and our allies, and we will need to do more there.

I think people in the region can expect over time that there is a lot more to be done here and we are committed to doing that, but we will approach it carefully. We have to plan it. We are spending Canadian taxpayers’ money and I think it is really important that we get the best value for every dollar we invest of their money.

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