Canada Details Premier Annual Northern Sovereignty Operation

YELLOWKNIFE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES--(Marketwire - Aug. 7, 2009) - From August 6 to 28, 2009, the Government of Canada will conduct a sovereignty operation, the Canadian Forces' Operation NANOOK 09, in the eastern Arctic. This operation will see the CF demonstrate a visible presence with land, sea and air forces operating in the Baffin Island region. It will include sovereignty patrols, a military exercise, and a whole-of-government exercise designed to demonstrate Canada's ability to operate in the North. "The presence in our North of the Canadian Forces and other departments shows our Government's commitment to protecting and demonstrating control over the air, land and sea within our jurisdiction, and responding to emergencies in support of the territorial government," said the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway. This year's operation will include an anti-submarine warfare exercise with Her Majesty's Canadian Ships (HMCS) Toronto and Glace Bay, and HMCS Corner Brook, one of Canada's four Victoria-class submarines. Land forces, comprised of Canadian Rangers and the Arctic Reserve Company Group from Ontario, will also deploy forward with the Navy and in Canadian Coast Guard Ship Pierre Radisson. The Air Force will be flying the CP-140 Aurora, CH-124 Sea King, CC-138 Twin Otter, CF-18 Hornet, CC-130 Hercules aircraft, while Transport Canada will be flying the Dash-7 throughout the exercise. Following the military exercise, government agencies will turn their attention to supporting Nunavut's Emergency Management Organization in their own exercise to test emergency preparedness in response to a critical infrastructure failure. "Operation NANOOK 09 presents an ideal opportunity to validate and improve upon our collective capabilities to operate effectively in our North," said General Walt Natynczyk, Chief of the Defence Staff. Note to Editors: Video b-roll collected last year, and this year between 17-24 Aug 09, will be available from the Combat Camera FTP site at: www.combatcamera.forces.gc.ca/common/combatcamera/news Still imagery will be available to media and the general public from the Combat Camera website at: www.combatcamera.forces.gc.ca