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New York Times
11 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Patrolling the High Arctic, Rifles and Snow Shoes at the Ready
The soldiers clambered onto snowmobiles and disappeared into a whiteout, snaking across the frozen Arctic Ocean in Canada's Northwest Territories. Members of the Canadian and American militaries, accompanied by units from other NATO allies, patrolled the sea, land and skies across a vast stretch of the Canadian Arctic surrounding the Mackenzie River Delta. They were training in one of the most inhospitable environments on earth. Canadian soldiers were issued snowshoes as part of their kit for the training exercise. Several patrols traveled across the frozen Arctic Ocean. As the region warms, the sea ice has thinned and retreated, and the period when the Northwest Passage can be traversed is asserts sovereignty over the passage, which links the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, but it can't support a global shipping lane on its own. Canada and the United States have worked together on Arctic security for over 80 years. Now, NATO wants to deter Russian ambitions in the region. 'There's no fight up here that's not joint,' said Maj. Matthew Hefner of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Arctic temperatures can quickly cause frostbite to exposed skin. Radio batteries die, engines break down, metal firearms and goggles become coated. Even lighting cigarettes is a challenge. Most of the approximately 700 U.S. and Canadian soldiers who took part in the exercise in March, called Operation Nanook-Nunalivut, had little experience in such difficult conditions. Accompanying them was a contingent of Canadian Rangers, reservists from Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities who bring a knowledge of the land, culture and climate. The Rangers serve as scouts, advisers and pathfinders, among other roles. During their downtime, Canadian Rangers played cards in Inuvik. Rangers and Junior Rangers went out to watch a large herd of reindeer north of Inuvik. Canada and United States have long been close allies, but their relationship has been tested in recent months. The Mackenzie River Delta is a maze of lakes and waterways stretching hundreds of square miles. The soldier is American, while the helicopter belongs to the Royal Canadian Air Force. Canadians have been angered by new American tariffs on exports, and offended by Trump administration talk of making their country the 51st state. Snowmobile and animal tracks on a frozen lake near Inuvik. Canadian Arctic security policy is pivoting to demonstrate the nation's credibility as a reliable ally of the United States, while at the same time deter potentially hostile nations, like Russia. A line of Canadian soldiers, above, patrolling past two satellite domes at a remote North Warning System site. Canadian Rangers make a trail across the tundra for U.S. Special Forces following behind. Over the past year, Canada and the United States have released updated strategies for the Arctic, making clear the region's increasing importance. Climate change, expanding commercial access and Russia's military buildup in the Arctic may reshape the region's future. So might the shifting Canada-U.S. relations.
National Post
a day ago
- Politics
- National Post
Why Canadian military's Cyclone helicopters were grounded for 27 days in May
The Canadian military's Cyclone helicopters weren't flying for 27 days in May due to a lack of spare parts, and only one of them is now able to take to the skies. Article content Article content Canada has 26 of the ship-borne maritime helicopters, with a final one slated for delivery this year. The $5.8-billion fleet is normally used to provide air support for the Royal Canadian Navy. Their missions include surface and subsurface surveillance, search and rescue, and anti-submarine warfare. Article content 'On May 1, the Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division ordered a temporary pause to flying operations for the CH-148 Cyclone fleet, after questions emerged in late April about whether various spare parts for the aircraft were potentially in use beyond their service life. The temporary pause to flying operations was lifted as of May 27,' Kened Sadiku, who speaks for the Department of National Defence (DND), said in an email. Article content Article content 'Certain aircraft components have a defined service life to ensure continued safety and airworthiness. Because using parts beyond their defined service life would pose risks to the safety of personnel and equipment, the decision was made to temporarily pause flight operations until certainty is regained.' Article content DND, the military and Sikorsky, which manufactured the helicopters, 'have been working together to identify potential parts of concern. This includes components of the Cyclone's landing gear, tail rotor driveshaft flange and auxiliary power unit, as well as engine parts,' Sadiku said. Article content Article content As of this past Wednesday, one Cyclone, now on deployment, returned to flying operations, he said. 'The team works to do the same for the rest of the fleet.' Article content Article content The Cyclone 'fleet is currently facing some challenges, such as aging datalink systems as well as sensor and other capabilities that are overdue for important upgrades,' he said. 'Specific details, however, cannot be provided for reasons of operational security.' Article content Military and government officials 'are working together with industry partners to determine a way forward for the aircraft and the capabilities it supports,' Sadiku said. Article content 'The Cyclone remains capable of supporting Royal Canadian Navy operations and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.' Article content Sadiku wouldn't confirm Sikorsky has put a hefty price tag on replacing the Cyclones' ageing datalinks — used to communicate digital information such as radar images to other aircraft, warships and shore bases. 'The datalink upgrade project is still under evaluation, as such, schedule and costs are still being negotiated.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Heavy smoke expected to hit the US as dangerous Canadian wildfires force 17K to evacuate
As many as 17,000 people in Canada are being evacuated as active wildfires have charred hundreds of thousands of acres in the country, officials said, threatening to waft heavy smoke over the northern United States. Rising heat, winds, and dry air sparked blazes in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, according to the country's Department of Natural Resources. Residents in the United States are expected to face poor air quality from the fires as soon as May 30. "This is a very serious situation," Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said at a news conference on May 29. "I do fear things are going to deteriorate with the weather we have ahead of us in the days ahead." Active blazes have burned 696,000 acres in Saskatchewan and 173,000 acres in Manitoba, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. A total of nearly 1.5 million acres have burned across the two provinces so far this year, according to the fire center. Moe said he expected the fires to worsen until a two or three-day rainfall event. Smoke from the blazes is expected to fall heavily over Midwestern states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, and cut across the country to reach the Carolinas by May 31, according to FireSmoke Canada, a team of forecasters at the University of British Columbia. Canadian authorities have called in the military to help with the "sheer scale" of the evacuations, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said at a news conference. "We're talking about hours instead of days to move this amount of people," said Kinew, adding it was the largest evacuation "seen in most people's living memory." The two provinces have declared a state of emergency. The blazes also stretch into the province of Ontario, where 130,000 acres have burned. The smoke drifting over the United States from the Canadian blazes comes after American cities in the Northeast, Midwest, and Plains encountered unhealthy air quality due to the nightmarish wildfires in Canada in 2023. Over 6,000 blazes left more than 37 million acres burned, an area larger than England, according to Canada's natural resources department. The American Lung Association's 2025 "State of the Air Report" found that a growing number of Americans were living with poor air quality due to the Canadian fires, even as other means of pollution were reduced. The report was based on data through 2023. As of May 29, 1,500 blazes have charred 1.8 million acres across Canada. 'We were not prepared': Canada fought nightmarish wildfires as smoke became US problem Smoke from the blazes is expected to waft over large parts of the United States starting in the Midwest, according to forecasters at FireSmoke Canada. Minnesota began feeling the impact of the blazes on May 29, according to the state's Pollution Control Agency. Upper Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan were expected to experience poor air quality by the evening. Smoke is expected to hit the Ohio Valley on May 30 and the Carolinas by the early hours of Saturday. Minnesota authorities warned of unhealthy levels of exposure to fine particles from the wildfires. Symptoms include everything from shortness of breath to heart attack and stroke. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dangerous Canadian fires are expected to push heavy smoke to the US
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
Canada wildfires: thousands in Manitoba ordered to evacuate / as state of emergency declared
More than 17,000 people in Canada's western Manitoba province were being evacuated on Wednesday as the region experienced its worst start to the wildfire season in years. 'The Manitoba government has declared a province-wide state of emergency due to the wildfire situation,' Manitoba's premier, Wab Kinew, told a news conference. 'This is the largest evacuation Manitoba will have seen in most people's living memory.' Kinew said he had asked the prime minister, Mark Carney, to send in the Canadian military to help with the evacuations and firefighting. Military aircraft, Kinew said, would be deployed 'imminently' to help move people out of endangered remote northern communities to safety, along with additional firefighting resources. The climate crisis has made wildfires in Canada more frequent and intense. The country has been hit with devastating fires in recent years, including in 2023, the most destructive on record. There are now 134 active fires across Canada, including in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. Half are considered out of control. The evacuations include the town of Flin Flon, where 5,000 residents were told earlier to get ready to flee on a moment's notice as a major wildfire bore down on the mining town, which is named after a fictional character in a 1905 paperback novel. Residents of several other remote towns and Indigenous communities have also now been told to leave. Most of the evacuees are expected to be transported to the Manitoba capital of Winnipeg. Evacuee Sheryl Matheson said the wildfires had surrounded her small town of Sherridon, northeast of Flin Flon. 'It's been overwhelming,' said the owner of a fishing lodge. 'It was very smokey. You could see the fires four or 5km away and moving fast.' She added, 'The flames were shooting over 121ft high and firefighters couldn't get close enough to the fire to do anything.' Elsaida Alerta told public broadcaster CBC she was having 'major anxiety' as she and her family readied to leave Flin Flon, where she has lived for three years. 'Especially for somebody that lived in a big city [previously], that never had to evacuate, this is definitely nerve-racking,' she said. The only highway out of Flin Flon still open was jammed with traffic and local stations had run out of petrol, she said. 'We basically gathered all our essential things, important documents, medications and, you know, things that our animals will need,' she said. 'We're just gonna make our way and hope for the best.' Premier Kinew said the widespread nature of the fires was cause for alarm. 'For the first time, it's not a fire in one region, we have fires in every region. That is a sign of a changing climate that we are going to have to adapt to,' Kinew said. Twenty-two wildfires were active in the province. Nearly 200,000 hectares of forests have been scorched in just the past month, or triple the annual average over the previous five years, Kirstin Hayward of the Manitoba wildfire service said. 'Manitoba has the highest fire activity in Canada so far this year, due in part to a prolonged period of warm and dry conditions,' she said. About 1,000 residents of Lynn Lake and Marcel Colomb First Nation in Manitoba and 4,000 people from the northern village of Pelican Narrows and other communities in neighboring Saskatchewan had already been evacuated earlier in the week. A firefighter was also severely injured when he was struck by a falling tree while battling blazes. He was being treated in hospital, Kinew said. The Manitoba premier said emergency shelters were being set up and companies and communities across the province were being asked to 'open your doors' to displaced residents. Earlier this month, two residents of the small community of Lac du Bonnet died after being trapped in a major wildfire northeast of Winnipeg.
