Defence chief says guarding Far North priority, warns Russia is back in Arctic bases

OTTAWA — Canada’s defence chief says protecting the country’s Arctic region is a key priority for the Armed Forces, warning that Russia has reoccupied abandoned Cold War bases in its Far North. 

Gen. Wayne Eyre says defending NATO’s northern flank is a key area of concern for the Canadian military. 

Eyre says the threat of a Russian incursion into Canada’s Arctic from the North is very low at the moment, but it could not be ruled out in the decades to come. 

Speaking at a defence conference in Ottawa, he says Canada’s Arctic is potentially vulnerable because of its sparse population and lack of infrastructure.