Canada Command | The North

Joint Task Force North (JTFN) and the Air Force Wrap Up Week-long Olympic Truce Outreach Tour Across Canada’s North

The last Olympic Spirit Box of sporting goods sits on the floor of 10 Hangar, 17 Wing Winnipeg, ready to be loaded onto a Canadian Forces (CF) CC-130 Hercules aircraft on January 4th 2010, for distribution to children in Canada’s North as part of the Olympic Truce Outreach Tour. The CF delivered one box to each of 17 northern communities.

Photo: Cpl Levarre McDonald

As the Olympic Flame arrived in Winnipeg last week, boxes filled with sporting goods donated by manufacturer NIKE and western National Hockey League teams were being loaded onto a Canadian Forces CC-130 Hercules aircraft bound for the North.

The Olympic Spirit Boxes contained soccer, hockey, lacrosse, baseball and basketball equipment as well as jerseys - enough gear to equip teams for each of the five sports in 17 Aboriginal communities in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The same equipment will be delivered to three more communities on a separate mission in early February.

The Olympic Truce project is the latest initiative of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Truce program, adopting the United Nations resolution to build a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideals. The project has the support of the Council of Yukon First Nations, the Dene Nation and Canada’s national Inuit organization, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, as well as the territorial governments.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Outreach Project was created by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) in partnership with the Canadian Forces and the United Nations Association in Canada in recognition of the values and benefits of inspiring children to lead active and positive lifestyles through sport. Joint Task Force North (JTFN) assisted VANOC by organizing the Olympic Truce initiative in Canada’s North.

The boxes of sporting goods were delivered to the northern communities over several days during the week of January 4th to 8th, 2010, with the Hercules logging in almost 15,000 km in the air. JTFN and the Air Force worked closely with the Canadian Rangers who, with the help of cadets and Junior Canadian Rangers, assisted in the delivery of the Olympic Truce sports equipment to the more isolated communities. Northern communities welcomed the teams with great enthusiasm, celebrating their arrival with traditional food and dancing.

Along with the donated equipment, a United Nations facilitator will be holding workshops in each of the 20 communities to teach youth to inspire and educate others about physical activity and the values of sport. The workshops are aimed at providing communities with the tools to promote the education program themselves, thereby ensuring a continuing legacy for future generations.

Joint Task Force (North) is one of six regional task forces located across the country that report to Canada Command, which is responsible for Canadian Forces routine and contingency operations in Canada and North America.

For more information about Canadian Forces in the North read: The Canadian Forces in the North

Publication Date : 11 January 2010

Joint Task Force North (JTFN) and the Air Force Assist With Olympic Truce Tour Across Canada’s North

An Inukshuk, meaning “likeness of a person” in Inuktitut, is a stone figure used as a beacon to guide travellers and mark food caches in the north. A Inukshuk was used as inspiration for the design of the official logo for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. The photo above was taken during Canadian Forces Exercise NARWHAL, which took place in 2004 in the Cumberland Peninsula area of Baffin Island.

CF Photo by Sgt Frank Hudec

The observance of an Olympic Truce is a tradition that dates back to the 9th century BC, in Ancient Greece. During the Truce period, the athletes, artists and their families, as well as ordinary pilgrims, could travel in total safety to participate in or attend the Olympic Games and return afterwards to their respective countries.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has a number of initiatives to maximize awareness and engagement in the Olympic Truce, with particular focus on youth. The aim is to pursue the Olympic Truce (www.olympictruce.org) goals of protecting the interests of athletes and contributing to peaceful and diplomatic solutions to conflict around the world by engaging Canadians through initiatives that leave lasting legacies. The Governor General of Canada is the Patron of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Truce.

Joint Task Force North (JTFN) is assisting VANOC with their Olympic Truce initiative in Canada’s North, which will be one activity in the Canadian program. The Olympic Truce Northern Outreach Tour will be officially announced on Monday, January 4th, 2010, at 17 Wing Winnipeg. The tour aims to ensure that children in remote northern communities are able to engage in sport, through access to sports equipment that is being sent to the North in Olympic Spirit Boxes.

The Olympic Spirit Boxes will contain hockey, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and basketball equipment. The boxes will contain enough clothing and sports gear to fully equip two teams for each of the five sports. The equipment is made possible by private and corporate donations. The United Nations Association of Canada (UNAC) will provided a curriculum for each community to learn more about sport and the values of the playing field-respect, fair play inclusivity.

The sporting equipment will go to local schools with the target age group being youth aged 6 to 16. Community educators will also be provided with a workshop in partnership with the UNAC. They will be invited to attend 'train the trainer' workshops in Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Inuvik. They will be led by a UN facilitator and will teach the educators how to administer the curriculum in their communities, teaching youth to inspire and educate others about physical activity and the values of sport.

Canada’s Air Force will make a contribution to the initiative by providing a CC-130 Hercules aircraft and its aircrew to load the sporting equipment and transport it to northern communities.

The initiative aims to extend the ideals of Olympism through an open invitation to act in the Olympic spirit - mutual understanding in the spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play - on creating everyday peace at home, in schools and in the workplace in communities in Canada’s North. The invitation to “Make Your Peace” calls on individuals to reflect and act on the Olympic Truce in their own unique way.

Joint Task Force (North) is one of six regional task forces located across the country that report to Canada Command, which is responsible for Canadian Forces routine and contingency operations in Canada and North America.

For more information about Canadian Forces in the North read: The Canadian Forces in the North

Publication Date : 04 January 2010

Arctic Security Working Group an Interface for Whole of Government Approach to Northern Sovereignty and Security

Corporal Billy Lui, a Canadian Forces Medical Technician, assists local first responders to put a simulated casualty in an ambulance in Iqaluit, Nunavut during Operation Nanook in August 2009. Operation Nanook is a recurring Canada Command sovereignty operation conducted in Canada's eastern Arctic with the participation of Canadian Forces personnel and equipment from the Navy, Army and Air Force, working under the command of Joint Task Force (North) (JTFN). The operation includes an exercise designed to practice whole-of-government coordination, security and consequence management in response to sovereignty and security issues and disasters in the North. The Arctic Security Working Group, which met recently in Yellowknife, NWT, provides a forum through which solutions to whole-of-government sovereignty and security issues can be discussed prior to being practised in the North during exercises conducted within sovereignty operations, such as Operation Nanook.

Photo: Sgt Eileen Redding, 19 Wing Comox, BC

Canada’s Arctic Security Working Group (ASWG) met in Yellowknife, NT on November 24th and 25th 2009 to discuss security and sovereignty issues relevant to federal and territorial governmental departments and agencies, aboriginal groups, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders operating in the North.

The ASWG was formed in 1999, with the aim of creating a forum to permit the sharing of information and enhance cooperation between the many partners involved in Northern sovereignty and security. The group meets twice a year in the North. Each department has the opportunity to present their activities and to discuss items that affect all members. This session of the ASWG focused on the theme of human security and specifically on increasing awareness of socio-economic issues, food and health security issues within the Arctic’s changing environment.

The ASWG provides an opportunity to generate synergy amongst departments and parties operating in the North, and to provide a venue for planning activities to test whole-of government response capabilities during such operations as OPERATION NANOOK. As mineral exploration, economic development, and shipping traffic in the North increases, so do the potential risks for Northern security. These risks include everything from a potential oil spill or plane crash, to smuggling operations or illegal fishing.

Given the challenges of time and space, the vast size of the North and limited residential infrastructure, working cooperatively with a whole of government approach to emergency response ensures that greater effect can be achieved when facing such emergencies. ASWG helps to facilitate this capability by providing a forum for increased collective awareness, alignment of effort, and coordination.

The ASWG is currently co-chaired by the Arctic Regional Director for Public Safety Canada, Ms Kellie Mitchell and Commander Joint Task Force (North), Brigadier-General David Millar.

Joint Task Force (North) is one of six regional task forces located across the country that report to Canada Command, which is responsible for CF routine and contingency operations in Canada and North America.

For more information about Canadian Forces in the North read: The Canadian Forces in the North

Publication Date : 01 December 2009

Planned Canadian Forces Facility in Nunavut Is a Key Component in Canada First Defence Strategy

HMCS Goose Bay refuels alongside the Coast Guard vessel Henry Larson in Eastern Arctic Harbour, HMCS Montreal cruises past.

CF Photo by Sgt Dennis Power

The Government of Canada has awarded a design contract for the Nanisivik Naval Facility (NNF) in Nunavut. This contract marks a significant milestone in a project that will support the Canadian Forces' ability to defend Canada's sovereignty in the North as part of the Canada First Defence Strategy.

The Department of National Defence Berthing and Refuelling Facility at Nanisivik, Nunavut, will help Canada exert a sustained naval presence in Arctic waters during the navigable season. Strategically positioned inside the eastern entrance of Parry Channel, and more than 1,100 nautical miles by sea north of Iqaluit, this facility will serve as a refuelling location for naval vessels on station in the high Arctic, and a place to embark equipment and supplies, transfer personnel, and work closely with the Canadian Coast Guard, who will also have access to the facility.

This contract, valued at just under $900, 000, has been awarded to WorleyParsons Westmar Ltd., from North Vancouver, B.C., for the first of four design phases of this project. This initial design phase will establish the various requirements for construction, as well as preliminary design work that will lay the foundation for the remaining design phases. The other three design phases will involve conceiving detailed plans and designs, developing drawings, and preparing construction estimates for the future Department of National Defence facility. For more details see the NEWS RELEASE

Today, military responsibility for the North falls under Canada Command. Its Joint Task Force North (JTFN), headquartered in Yellowknife, is responsible for Canadian Forces operations in the North, which is by far Canada Command’s single largest region. In fact, JTFN’s area of responsibility encompasses approximately four million square kilometres, or 40 per cent of Canada’s land mass and 75 per cent of its coastal regions.

The Commander of JTFN reports to the Commander of Canada Command. JTFN’s role is to exercise Canadian sovereignty north of the 60th parallel, to coordinate and support Canadian Forces activities in the North, and to provide liaison with the territorial governments and peoples of the three northern territories - Northwest, Yukon and Nunavut.

The Canadian Navy plays a key role in asserting sovereignty along Canada’s three coasts and routinely sails in the nation’s northern waters. With the Government’s intention to acquire new ships and establish a berthing and refuelling facility that will support the Navy in the Arctic, there will be a marked increase in the Navy’s presence in Canada’s Arctic waters.

For more information on Canadian Forces operations in the North, go to: The Canadian Forces in the North

Publication Date : 27 November 2009

Canadian Ranger Leadership Training Important to Sovereignty and Security Operations in Canada’s North

Reviewing Officer, LCol Frank Laniel, Chief of Staff Joint Task Force North (JTFN), speaks with Adam Ukuqtunnuaq from Gjoe Haven during the Ranger Leadership graduation parade for the First Canadian Ranger Patrol Group (1 CRPG). R/Sgt Sam Tulurialik from Taloyoak translates the conversation for Adam.

Photo: JTF (North)

By: Capt Steve Watton

The First Canadian Ranger Patrol Group (1 CRPG) conducted Leadership Ranger Development Period 2 (DP 2) training in Whitehorse from Oct 1^st to 9^th, 2009.

The DP 2 is a new fully-dedicated national level training program tailored to Ranger Patrol Commanders. It is the second time in the history of 1 CRPG that this course has been run in the North, since DP 2 was implemented in 2008.

The aim of the training was to enhance Ranger Patrol Commanders leadership skills and knowledge in the performance of their Canadian Ranger duties and responsibilities. The candidates on this course came from communities across all three Northern territories.

The DP 2 course is advanced training which gives patrol leaders the skills to direct and coordinate activities within their existing patrols. The training included leadership instruction, patrolling, land skills including search and rescue and administration, as well as general service knowledge.

Commanded by Major Luc Chang, 1 CRPG has over 1500 Rangers in 57 patrols spread across the three Territories that together constitute 40% of Canada’s land mass. The members of 1 CRPG carry out more than 110 patrols and operations a year.

The role fulfilled by the Rangers and by the instructors and staff of the 1 CRPG is vital to Canadian sovereignty and to the Department of National Defence’s presence in the North. The increasing interest in the security and sovereignty of the North means that the Rangers will continue to be at the forefront of Canada’s northern military operations.

Canada Command is responsible for Canadian Forces routine and contingency operations in Canada and continental North America. For detailed information on Canada Command’s role in the North, go to: The Canadian Forces in the North

Publication Date : 24 November 2009

Canadian Forces Community Outreach in the North

Brigadier-General David Millar, Commander of Joint Task Force (North) speaks with the local Junior Canadian Ranger patrol in Coral Harbour, Nunavut on November 1st, 2009.

Photo: Joint Task Force North

Brigadier-General David Millar, Commander of Joint Task Force (North) was in Coral Harbour as part of an outreach trip to several Nunavut communities from November 1st to 6th, 2009. During this trip he conducted command visits with the units and members within this region, including the Canadian Rangers, Junior Canadian Rangers and Cadets. His trip also focused on conducting community outreach by participating in local activities, meetings and parades and visiting, interfacing and liaising with community leaders, elders and other representatives.

As one of six regional commands reporting to Canada Command in Ottawa, Joint Task Force (North) is responsible for the conduct of all routine and contingency operations in Canada's North. Canada Command is responsible for Canadian Forces (CF) routine and contingency operations in Canada and North America.

Publication Date : 12 November 2009