The media hysteria in February over flying objects and weather/spy balloons flying over American and Canadian airspace points out the increased military importance of the skies of the far north. These objects have left NATO higher-ups embarrassed over the fact they weren’t detected sooner, confirming paranoias of a blind spot in the “underfunded” NORAD system. Prior to these events, military strategists have long been urging politicians, to some notable success, of the need to shore up the alliance’s northern military capabilities. This comes amidst greater and greater escalation in tensions amongst the world powers.

For almost a year now, the slaughter in Ukraine has marked a fundamental shift in the world imperialist system. Entrenched in economic crisis, capitalist blocs now seek to consolidate around common enemies: their imperialist rivals and the working class. The Canadian state has taken on a unique position in this wave of militarization, with more JTF2 (Canadian special forces) military advisors present in Ukraine than any other country prior to the outbreak of war. Press reports note that JTF2 is still operating in Ukraine (neither confirmed nor denied (!) by the defence ministry). Canada is now being seen as a key pillar of NATO strategy as the distance across the arctic sea seems shorter.

In August last year, Trudeau and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had a joint tour of the Canadian arctic to shore up a vital front of the alliance’s defence. With speeches of reconciliation and opportunity (to live next to airstrips and radar facilities), Trudeau committed $5bn in the coming 6 years and $40bn in the next 20 years to Arctic militarization. Canada and the rest of NATO sees itself as lagging behind Russian military capacities in the Arctic with Putin recommissioning old USSR bases while the NORAD system has been left in disrepair. With nuclear rhetoric in the air, generals are once again coming to the stark recognition that the Arctic is the shortest route for a devastating exchange with Russia. In order to catch up, Canada is allocating these funds to a vast expansion of infrastructure in the Arctic territories and rebuilding satellite surveillance over the area so as to detect Russian missiles and jet fighters.

With the melting of the ice caps, Russian and Chinese capital has invested heavily on the Russian side of the arctic. Next to trillions of dollars of untapped mineral and energy deposits, in a period of supply chain disruptions, the Northern Sea Route following the Russian coast is estimated to cut shipping time by 40%. Russian capital has been banking on this unique opportunity as its old resource extraction stagnates and its tech industries flatline.

Across the pole, Canadian capital sees lucrative prospects in mining and other forms of resource extraction in its far north. Canada is already a dominant imperialist player in world mining with 75% of mining companies headquartered in the country. Not only can Canadian capital boast large domestic deposits but it also finances and oversees global mining operations from Cuba to Chile to Indonesia. Canada is a leading producer of nickel, gold, copper, iron, titanium, uranium, lithium, cobalt, potash, niobium and zinc, and in 2003 diamond deposits discovered in the northern territories allowed it to surpass South Africa in diamond production. Next to this, the retreating ice caps present the Northwest Passage as accessible to global shipping, providing a natural Panama Canal.

The current economic crisis and the war in Ukraine has compelled the NATO imperialist bloc to reconstitute competition according to its rivalry with Russia and China. Whereas, for decades, the U.S. and Canada viewed each other as economic competitors in the Arctic, the recent NATO trip to the far north shows that Canada is putting aside these inter-alliance disputes in order to face a greater enemy. The solution to the crisis no longer appears solvable through ordinary capitalist competition, by who can build the next nickel mine or deep-water port, but rather is tending towards total destruction of key rivals. Not only is it imperative for Canada and the United States to prevent Russian access to potential new resources in the Arctic, but block the Russian bourgeoisie from what it sees as its economic future. This, of course, corresponds to military-strategic positioning.

The vast expansion of infrastructure in the Arctic Circle to support increasing militarization will in turn assist greater and greater resource extraction. While the economic resources of the far north make it a far more significant military-strategic location, the rapid development of roads, airways, and ports will only increase the economic importance of the region. These two major thrusts northwards will result in the militarization of everyday life for the territories’ indigenous population.

The importance of the support of the northern indigenous peoples is not lost on Trudeau and his generals. The majority of the Canadian Rangers (the foremost military body in the Arctic) is mostly composed of First Nations and Inuit peoples. The Rangers are getting a significant upgrade in military equipment and their survival skills are seen as critical for training the wider military in Arctic operations.

Canada’s turn to the north will result in military expenditures dictating the social geography of its Arctic territories. Just as rails and roads in the old colonies were directed towards exporting goods to the metropole, the air, land, and sea infrastructure in the territories will be even more tailored to the needs of the military and extractive economy. Corresponding to this, the economic life of the indigenous population there will be further integrated into Canada’s imperialist project: Defense Minister Anita Anand presented this a great “opportunity” for them, saying that “will ensure Indigenous-owned businesses benefit from these investments throughout the supply chain.” Thus the image of Trudeau and Stoltenberg meeting with an Indigenous elder becomes clear: what reconciliation really means is the domination of militarization; clean water on the condition of contributing to the northern front of Canadian imperialism.

The flare up of imperialist conflict is not merely taking place in a distant land. The working class across the globe is being asked to pay for the economic effects of its supply chain disruptions be it heating in Berlin or food security in Cairo. The deterioration of real wages is being met by a more proactive state in crushing strikes from the American rail workers to Ontario educators and Newfoundland paramedics. And with the above, it becomes clear that, in the tundra, both the NATO alliance and Russia are digging in as ICBMs in the Kola Peninsula and Nebraska aim at each other.

With the direness of the situation facing our class so apparent, the Internationalist Communist Tendency launched the No War But the Class War initiative to serve as a space for internationalists forces to work together against the militarism and economic attacks of the capitalists on our class. To sum up the view of these committees we will quote Lenin at length:

The war has undoubtedly created a most acute crisis and has increased the distress of the masses to an incredible degree. The reactionary character of this war, and the shameless lies told by the bourgeoisie of all countries in covering up their predatory aims with “national” ideology, are inevitably creating, on the basis of an objectively revolutionary situation, revolutionary moods among the masses. It is our duty to help the masses to become conscious of these moods, to deepen and formulate them. This task is correctly expressed only by the slogan: convert the imperialist war into civil war; and all consistently waged class struggles during the war, all seriously conducted “mass action” tactics inevitably lead to this. It is impossible to foretell whether a powerful revolutionary movement will flare up during the first or the second war of the great powers, whether during or after it; in any case, our bounden duty is systematically and undeviatingly to work precisely in this direction.

To hell with Canada, to hell with NATO, to hell with Ukraine and to hell with Russia!

Workers of the world, unite!

Notes:

Image: NATO