Territorial premiers want to be better informed about threats to Canada’s north.
A week after the NATO summit where the Trudeau government committed to increasing its military spending, they lamented that Canada is 20 years behind in infrastructure investments in the Far North.
The territorial premiers spoke in Halifax Tuesday morning at a news conference on the sidelines of the Council of the Federation summer summit, which brings together premiers from all provinces.
The premiers of Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories have suggested they are poorly briefed in real time by the federal government on security and defence issues, but that the situation has improved since a meeting with federal Defence Minister Bill Blair and his Foreign Affairs colleague, Mélanie Joly, in May.
The Far North is targeted by Russian and Chinese ambitions and coveted for its abundant resources, but Nunavut Premier PJ Akeeagok has avoided clearly identifying the states trying to challenge Canada.
He said, however, that there was no imminent threat in the North, according to indications given during the meeting with Mr Blair and Mrme Nice.
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