Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre vowed to expand Canada’s military presence in the Arctic, backing the Trump administration’s call for more defense spending to counter Russia and China while asserting the northern nation’s sovereignty in the remote region.
The leader of the opposition — who polls suggest is likely to become the next prime minister — promised to build a permanent military base in Iqaluit, Nunavut, if his party forms government after a general election expected in the coming months.
“The Canadian Arctic is under threat,” Poilievre said in a video posted Monday. “Hostile powers want our resources, our shipping routes and to be within striking distance of our continent. Our safety, territory and trade with the US requires we take back control of Canada’s North.”
Poilievre’s push is part of a new suite of policies he’s dubbing his “Canada First” plan, in the face of President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and his insistence the country should become a US state. Trump cited Arctic security as a reason for his renewed interest in acquiring Greenland from Denmark.
To pay for his plan, Poilievre said he would “dramatically cut” foreign aid, much of which, he claimed, “goes to dictators, terrorists and global bureaucracies.” The country spent about C$15.5 billion ($10.8 billion) on international assistance in 2022-23, and Poilievre’s promise follows Trump and Elon Musk’s dismantling of the US Agency for International Development.
The Conservative leader unveiled “part one” of his plan to “take back control of the Arctic” in the remote community of Iqaluit on Monday. He pledged to double the size of mobile forces to patrol the region to 4,000 rangers, and acquire two icebreakers for the navy, on top of two currently planned for the coast guard.
Canada’s Conservatives have seen their polling lead over the Liberals narrow in recent weeks as the governing party is in the process of finding Justin Trudeau’s replacement. That has prompted a shift in Poilievre’s messaging to laying out specific plans to deal with Trump, instead of only attacking Trudeau’s government.
Poilievre reiterated on Monday that Canada will “never be” the 51st US state.
“If we are to be a sovereign, self-reliant nation, we must take control of our North, secure all of our borders and stand on our own two feet. We cannot count on the Americans to do it for us any more,” he said.
Canada’s Arctic makes up about 40% of the country’s land mass and 75% of its coastlines. In recent years, its military forces have found Chinese monitoring buoys and encountered a Chinese polar vessel in the region, where Russia is also modernizing and growing its military presence.
The Trudeau government has also expanded its plans to defend the Arctic, making the region a focus of its defense policy update last year and pledging to buy up to 12 under-ice capable submarines. Still, the northern nation has never met the North Atlantic Treaty Organization target of spending 2% on defense since agreeing to it in 2006.
Poilievre said he would complete the submarine purchase as well as other Liberal government commitments to defense, including modernizing the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). But he promised a Conservative government would deliver these initiatives faster by “eliminating red tape and delays.”