Shingle Point (Aug 21/06) - When it comes to proving Canada's control over the arctic, it's important to have boots on the ground.

This was the message brought by Lt.-Col. Andrew Artus, Chief of Staff for Canada's Joint Task Force North, after an operation mobilized forces in the Beaufort Delta Aug. 8 to Aug. 13.

The project, dubbed Operation Beaufort, saw Canadian Rangers, Coast Guard, Environmental Response units, RCMP and military forces - on land, sea and air - patrol the NWT and Yukon to assert their presence in the North.

"I feel it's important to put things in place and exercise the equipment, so when the time comes you can actually do it," Artus said. "The logistics are important. Certain things can't be known until they are actually done. For instance, you can sit at a table and plan (a northern response), but then realize you brought the wrong kind of tents, or don't have enough food."

While Operation Beaufort was not responding to any imminent threat, Artus said it was no mere drill or exercise.

"An exercise, to me, would mean you are fabricating some elements. Here, we are looking over real water, with real ships. We are building things, systems, relationships, which will be used. It may be only a matter of time," he said.

Potential threats or emergencies included unwelcome foreign vessels, viral pandemics, organized drug cartels, environmental disasters such as oil spills and boats carrying illegal immigrants to the North.

"This is about the protection of Canadian interests - economic interests and political interests. The North has a lot of resources and we're here to protect them," Artus said.

RCMP Chief Supt. Pat McCloskey, who oversaw the police element of the operation, said it was important for the RCMP to be seen in the North.

"What we're trying to do here is re-establish our presence in the Beaufort, which we essentially gave up in 1964 when we closed up at Herschel Island," he said.

"It's about our ability to respond and to investigate. We need to test that ability on occasion."

He added the RCMP might be needed in case of an emergency, especially as more people start to use Arctic seaways.

"No one in Halifax ever suspected a Swissair plane would crash 50 miles offshore in 1998," he said, as an example of an emergency.

McCloskey added it was important for RCMP officers to be on the waters in the agency's 30-foot Zodiac boat, because they have the authority to intervene in cases where the Coast Guard cannot.

At Shingle Point, near Aklavik, a small group of Canadian Rangers watched for foreign boats or emergencies.

"It's going to happen eventually," said ranger Mike Taylor, on the third day without a sighting.

Sergeant Jerry Vanhantsaeme, who stayed with the Rangers, the civilian eyes and ears of the military in the North, said the aim of the operation was partly symbolic. He said it was sending a message to nations- including the United States - which do not recognize Canada's claim to authority over the Northwest Passage.

"This is to show other countries that we own this land," he said.

Another aspect of the operation was the coordination of Coast Guard specialists like Mark Jones, who is skilled in oil spill cleanup.

Jones was among some officers who travelled to communities including Tuktoyaktuk and Cambridge Bay, teaching local authorities the proper procedures for collecting floating oil.

"It's important to look at the landscape up close," Jones said. "Look at the currents. See where the old logs are going that's where the oil is going to float."

As different groups patrolled the north from the Alaskan border to Tuktoyaktuk, their operations were coordinated by Joint Task Force North, one of six Canadian divisions of Canada Command, which co-ordinates domestic defence.

Jack Simpson, commanding officer for the Joint Operations Committee in Inuvik, said it was indeed a collaborative effort.

"We are like the nerve centre," he said, as officers like Master Cpl. Daniel Cossette communicated with boats using radio and satellite phones.

Joint Task Force North is responsible for more than one third of Canada's land mass and is staffed by 140 people.

A similar patrol exercise, dubbed Operation Lancaster, is happening now in the eastern Arctic and is scheduled to wrap-up Aug. 25.