Commander wants to widen Rangers’ scope

The Canadian military's northern commander wants the Rangers' role expanded but stopped short of agreeing they should be trained for combat.

The Canadian military’s northern commander wants the Rangers’ role expanded but stopped short of agreeing they should be trained for combat.

“Rangers are our guiding light, our pathfinders. Those eyes and ears and hearts and souls of the North that provide us protection,” Brig.-Gen David Millar, Joint Task Force North Commander, said Wednesday of the largely aboriginal patrol force stationed across the North.

“They provide us surveillance and awareness of the activity that’s occurring in the North. To me, that role will never change simply because it’s been so successful,” he told a Whitehorse news briefing.

Millar was responding to questions on a recent Senate report on Arctic sovereignty that says Coast Guard icebreakers should be armed and Rangers turned into combat-ready units.

Millar was, however, in favour of providing Rangers with on the water capabilities.

“I certainly support expanding their role on the water ... there’s a potential of providing vessels to our Rangers,” he said. “Certainly, as ice melts and the Arctic Ocean opens up, I believe there’s a greater need to make sure we can survey our waters.”

Expanding the size of the Canadian Rangers is happening as well, said Millar.

For the Yukon, that will mean an additional patrol unit of 30 to 40 members, and across the North, the Rangers’ current force numbers of 1,622 are expected to increase by 460.

While 2,000-plus Rangers are responsible for patrolling a vast expanse of land and water spread over the three territories, Millar described their role as farther-reaching than numbers may suggest.

“They’re recruited by the community, they’re of the community and governed by the community. So not only do you have each community that is providing a presence of patrol and search and rescue, but because they live in the community, it becomes a community effort,” Millar said.

“You have the communities that become part of that same mission, so it’s much more than even the 2,000 Rangers.”

And since the Rangers’ inception more than 60 years ago, Millar said they have performed admirably.

“They’re that vanguard force and with that presence on the ground they have represented our sovereignty since 1947.

“Since that time, we have never had any incursions without our Rangers being aware of it, so I’m very confident in the Rangers’ roles and their skills,” said Millar.

In the event of a hostile foreign presence turning up on our country’s northern shores, Canadian Forces deployed from the South would provide the ultimate deterrent.

“At the same time, our Rangers don’t stand alone. They are our front line force, if you will. They provide the protection.

“It’s the Canadian Forces, the rest of the Canadian Forces, that defend our territory if required, and we will deploy troops up from the South to do that.”

The role of the Joint Task Force North (JTFN) is to assist in maintaining Canada’s sovereignty North of 60, to co-ordinate and support Canadian Forces activities in the North and provide liaison with the territorial governments and people of the N.W.T., Yukon and Nunavut.

The three territories comprise four million square kilometres, or one-third of Canada’s land mass.

Headquarters of the JTFN are located in Yellowknife. Its representatives are in Whitehorse this week for the 20th meeting of the Arctic Security Working Group.