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Sunday 05.02.2012

Power goes out & Harper's tour continues

The annual military exercise is partially meant to demonstrate Canada's sovereignty in the North in an area where Russian and American subs have long prowled.

Canada's prime minister Stephen Harper boarded a Canadian warship on Wednesday to observe a massive military exercise aimed at demonstrating Arctic sovereignty, CBC News reports.

Harper arrived on the frigate HMCS Toronto by helicopter on Wednesday to observe an anti-submarine warfare exercise, which is being conducted as part of Operation Nanook in the eastern Arctic.

"With immense natural wealth and the growing potential for new global trade routes, the strategic importance of Canada's Arctic is heightened as never before," Harper told reporters and military personnel aboard the frigate.

Harper repeated his oft-quoted line about Arctic sovereignty — "use it or lose it" — saying a national government's foremost responsibility is to protect the integrity of its country's borders.

Harper also boarded the submarine HMCS Corner Brook when it dove in an area around Frobisher Bay.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk also observed the exercise.

The operation involves about 700 military personnel on land and sea and in the air. It will include maritime surveillance patrols in the Hudson and Davis straits and aerial reconnaissance over much of the North.

The annual military exercise is partially meant to demonstrate Canada's sovereignty in the North in an area where Russian and American subs have long prowled.

The exercise, which will conclude on Aug. 28, is also meant to practise responses to emergencies such as an attack or a sunken ship, officials said.

Meanwhile, Harper missed out on a power outage in Iqaluit.

A control-room computer chip was culprit behind a power outage in Iqaluit on Wednesday morning, according to Qulliq Energy Corp.

Residents across the city were without electricity for a couple of hours, starting at about 8:20 a.m. ET.