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BAFFIN ISLAND - More than 600 members of the Canadian Rangers, Army, Navy and Air Force made their presence known in the south Baffin region last week as part of an Arctic sovereignty exercise called Operation Nanook.

Navy ship HMCS Toronto patrols Frobisher Bay as part of Operation Nanook, an Arctic sovereignty exercise taking place Aug. 19-26. - NNSL photo / Herb Mathesen

The operation, held to co-ordinate emergency responses between the Canadian Forces and various governmental agencies, put boots on the ground, in the skies and on the seas in an attempt to show Canada's commitment to protecting the North.

"This is very much about demonstrating Canada's use of its Arctic territory," said Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay on Tuesday in Iqaluit.

Land patrols went out to Pangnirtung and Kimmirut last weekend, where Canadian Rangers shared valuable survival skills with army infantry in the event they have to be deployed in the North.

Chief of Defence Staff General Walter Natynczyk said while southern personnel are trained in cold climate survival, -55 C is a whole different story.

"When you go on exercises up here with the Rangers, you listen to the Rangers," said Natynczyk. "They know how to live off the land and survive."

The HMCS Toronto and HMCS Shawinigan patrolled Frobisher Bay throughout the week alongside the Canadian Coast Guard's Radisson icebreaker.

Three marine exercises, including emergency response and search and rescue simulations, were planned for the weekend to test the response of government agencies and how they worked with the Canadian Forces to deal with the situations.

An exercise featuring a ship running aground was planned to observe how the coast guard would lead a response to a hazardous materials spill.

"Practising together now means that we will be able to respond more effectively when a real emergency arises," said MacKay.

A mass evacuation of a ship in distress and a mock hostage taking on board were also to be conducted.

Throughout the week, crews from the HMCS Toronto performed sovereignty patrols by sending teams of at least four out in a rubber boat to explore small areas of the Frobisher Bay coastline, with instructions to report or intercept anything out of the ordinary.

While the navy does not have a permanent patrol in the Arctic, it typically sends up one or two patrol ships on "fly-over patrols" of the immense Northern seas each year.

The Canadian Coast Guard has a seasonal presence with up to five icebreakers patrolling the Arctic Ocean while it has open water from June until mid-November.