Stephen Van Dine writes that Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy not only fails to secure investment but also leaves Canada’s Arctic exposed to security risks.
Chinese balloons, ocean buoys, and ships of all shapes and sizes are navigating through our Arctic waters and over our lands. In response, the coast guards and militaries from both Canada and the United States are increasing their detection and response capability against China’s probes into North America. That response includes scrambling fighter jets to shoot down suspected Chinese spy balloons as was done in February 2023 over Yukon.
Today, there is another kind of Chinese incursion in the Canadian Arctic. This incursion is much less visible than balloons or buoys, and is something that the conventional military is ill-equipped to confront: the acquisition of junior mining companies.