Yellowknife (Apr 25/05) - If an airplane were to crash or a ship were to run into trouble in the Arctic, the Canadian Ranger patrol would likely be the first on the scene.

A select group of Rangers have proven their ability to respond and deal with emergencies in the North after taking part in a sovereignty patrol in the High Arctic recently.

"It's confirmed, in my mind, that these Rangers were skilled in the past and could carry out and accomplish any task that we give them," said Maj. Stewart Gibson, commanding officer of the Rangers, on April 19.

This year's patrol to put "footprints in the snow" - a catch phrase used often by the Canadian Forces when talking about operations in the territories - sent 13 Rangers and nine regular force members to the unmanned Isachsen weather station 1,400km north of the Arctic Circle.

Bad weather forced the two-week operation to scale down after the group was stuck close to a week in Yellowknife and Resolute waiting for conditions in Isachsen to clear.

"The weather had its impact. We adjusted our plans, we got into Isachsen and we met most of the objectives that had been set out for me by the boss," says Gibson. His boss is Col. Norm Couturier, commander of the Canadian Forces Northern Area.

Snowmobile patrols to the Mackenzie King and Borden islands to the west were cancelled, but two separate groups managed to reach Meighan and Amund Ringnes Island to the east.

A planned simulated plane crash using a U.S. Air Force DC-3 plane that crashed near Isachsen in the 1940s was also scrapped due to time constraints.

Rangers prove skills

The 13 Rangers chosen are the best and brightest of the 58 patrols in Nunavut, the NWT and the Yukon.

Numa Ottokie of Cape Dorset has been a Ranger for 12 years. He hopes the world takes notice of Canada's most recent foray into the Arctic, though he admits he doesn't know much about why his country is choosing to confirm its sovereignty.

"To protect our land I guess. It's been our land for thousands of years," he said after arriving in Yellowknife.

For the Rangers, meeting those from other communities and forging bonds on the land seemed to be the most important part of the experience.

Many of the mostly aboriginal Rangers speak Inuktitut, but in different dialects, making it hard to understand each other, says Ottokie.

After flying to Yellowknife for a parade and awards, the Rangers got ready to go back home, to be on call for an Arctic emergency that Major Gibson calls "inevitable."

Gibson and Couturier are touting the patrol as a success because they were able to get there and were able to patrol the area, despite the shortened expedition.

The Canadian Armed Forces started Arctic patrols in 2002 after realizing Canada needed to extend its military presence into the unpopulated areas of the North. Increasing air and ship traffic means more activity in the High Arctic and a possible threat to Canada's sovereignty.

That year, a 33-member group travelled 1,700km from Resolute to the Magnetic North Pole and back. Annual sovereignty patrols have been held ever since. This year's operation cost the army $1 million.