Canada's purchase of Inuvik hangar applauded by northerners and Arctic security experts

The Canadian government has purchased a strategically located aircraft hangar in Inuvik, N.W.T., for $8.6 million — a move that's being met with relief by northerners and experts on Arctic security who were alarmed by foreign interest in the facility.

"I think it's the best idea the government of Canada has had in a long time," said Clarence Wood, Inuvik's mayor.

Wood said he first learned of the sale several months ago, though it wasn't publicly announced.

The 21,000-square-foot hangar, which went up for sale two years ago, was previously leased by the Department of National Defence, a long-standing arrangement that ended in 2021 when the department cancelled its lease. The government reportedly came under pressure from the U.S. to buy the facility after it went up for sale, because of apparent Russian and Chinese interest in the site.

On Wednesday, Daniel Minden, director of communications for the office of the minister of National Defence, told CBC the federal government did an analysis of the hangar's strategic value and "found a clear interest in acquiring the facility" — a marked change from the department's position in April 2023 that the hangar was useful but not essential.

Les Klapatiuk, the former owner of the hangar, said he sees the facility as an important one because of the lack of infrastructure in the North.

"Look at how many hangars [there are] on any airports that are capable of handling large aircraft," he said. "All we have to do is look at our own infrastructure, and we see that we are severely lagging."

Former Nunavut senator Dennis Patterson, long an advocate for better Arctic security, told CBC that during his time on the Senate, he was frustrated by the lack of attention paid to the issue. He pointed to a study of it by a Senate committee that involved a visit to Inuvik, crediting that as something that helped Canada "wake up" to the strategic significance of the hangar.

"I've been shouting into the wilderness on this issue," he said.

"There's an urgency to look at the gaps in infrastructure, and the Inuvik hangar is only one small part of a much larger vulnerability. I'm glad it's finally being addressed, but it took a long time and a lot of work to draw that issue to Canada's attention."

The hangar is close to the Royal Canadian Air Force's forward operating location in Inuvik and was previously used by the government to support the operation of CC-130 Hercules aircraft, Minden said Wednesday.

It'll also be important for the F-35s Canada is purchasing, according to Rob Huebert, the interim director for the Centre of Military, Security and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary — as will the federal government's project to extend Inuvik's runway from 6,000 to 9,000 feet.

"We are talking about a very significant strategic asset. And the decision that it is being bought by the Canadian government, I think, is a step in the right direction," Huebert said.

Huebert pointed to U.S. and Canadian concerns about Russia developing hypersonic missile capability. Infrastructure like the hangar are needed in order for Canada to respond, he said.