CAMBRIDGE BAY, Nunavut, Canada ¨C Over the past three months, Canadian soldiers conducted a more than 5,000-kilometer snowmobile patrol in extreme ?Arctic conditions traveling from Inuvik, Northwest Territories, to Churchill, Manitoba, braving blizzards and minus-60 degree Celsius temperatures in military exercises designed to prepare for a foreign threat ¡ª and demonstrate Canada¡¯s ability to take care of itself.
That¡¯s a tall order. The political climate has changed since U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s repeated threats to make Canada an American state, take control of Greenland and withdraw from NATO, but the harsh realities of operating in Canada¡¯s frozen north have not.
¡°There are Canadians up here defending (the country) at all times of the day,¡± said Travis Hanes, a commanding officer of the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, a special unit of the Canadian Armed Forces¡¯ reserve. ¡°They¡¯re stretching their abilities across some of the most inhospitable terrain and climate that you can possibly imagine.¡±
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