Yellowknife (Jun 21/06) - Terrorist attacks in the North could be stopped thanks to a new strategy according to the Canadian Navy's Cmdr. Chris Ross.

The tactics will be based on information from navy diving exercises scheduled for September.

"It will enable us to be operationally effective in the North," Ross said. "We want to establish relationships while working in the North, so that if something happens, we are prepared."

Motivated by their mandate to be a greater presence in the North, the Canadian army, navy and Department of Fisheries are teaming-up for diving exercises in Great Slave Lake.

The military and government team went out on Back Bay to explore logistics and strategy for the dive on June 2.

"The information gleaned by the divers will help other diving teams have ready information to use in case of a disaster," said Lieut. David Connelly of the Canadian Armed Forces based in Yellowknife.

The army, navy and Fisheries will also have a more cohesive operation in case a disaster hits Yellowknife or the Northwest Territories.

Ross says the team, from Ontario, is coming up specifically to gain arctic experience, as well as gather information.

"In our region we do four or five regional diving exercises," Ross says.

"This year the Canadian Forces want to give our team opportunity to give something more interesting."

Information learned from the dive will help them in case of terrorist attack on water or gas pipelines or biological contamination of the water.

The water and gas pipes of the Northwest Territories are described by Ross and Connelly as a"very good terrorist target. It would be very easy for a terrorist to put a bomb in one of the pipes," Connelly said.

They are also preparing for accidental or natural disasters, like an airplane losing a load into the lake or missing a runway.

The diving team will also help fisheries map the bottom of Back Bay and are planning a special Northern Lights dive. "It's a sailor's romantic vision," Connelly says.