Resolute - When you are backing up the country's claim to the top of the world, bring the Canadian Rangers.

Operation Nunalivut has three Ranger patrols operating all over Ellesmere Island, and those patrols were packed with Nunavut members of the Rangers. If you are going to travel the High Arctic, it is wise to bring Nunavummiut.

Rangers were delayed from leaving Eureka for a day, due to heavy winds. That didn't stop them from staging a mock departure for the media assembled to meet them. - Kent Driscoll/NNSL photo

The 24-member patrol is an all star team of local Ranger groups. Team leaders got to choose their own Rangers from the ranks, and to judge by the Inuktitut on most of the kamotiqs, Nunavut Rangers were well-represented.

Three Ranger patrols left Resolute on March 25. Rangers assembled their own kamotiqs from lumber the army flew to Resolute. They also picked up their military issue snowmobiles, Bombardier Scandic 500s.

The military loves their acronyms, and even something as ubiquitous as a snowmobile in Nunavut has a tag. The official military title for snowmobile is L.O.S.V. or "light over snow vehicle."

Two teams headed north to the Eureka weather station, while the third made its way east across Ellesmere Island to Alexandra Fiord.

The two teams in Eureka split up, with one patrolling the northwest shore and a second crossing the interior. Both teams will meet in Alert, on or around April 10.

Nunalivut is the name of the operation, and it means "land that is ours." Demonstrating Canadian control of that land is the major purpose of the exercise.

Patrol three will be looking for evidence of Greenlandic hunters on Canadian soil. They brought an RCMP officer with them, but arrests are not on the agenda. Cpl. Tom Cooke is along for the ride, but according to the Rangers commander, he left his handcuffs behind. Instead, he will deal with any trespassers in a very Canadian way.

"He said he would ask them over for tea, because it is cold," said Major Chris Bergeron, in command of the operation. "Then he would find out where they are from, and fill out a full report. The aim is not to catch people."

Patrol one will place a metal Canadian flag on Ward Hunt Island. Ward Hunt Island is the traditional starting point for North Pole-bound adventurers.

"We have all sorts of tourists there, and we have a special flag, which will last for ages. It says 'This is Canadian land,'" said Bergeron.

Rangers are making better time on every leg of the journey. On March 25, they were on the move for four hours and 20 minutes, and were stopped for four hours and 37 minutes.

By March 29, they were only resting for two hours and 57 minutes, and moving for seven hours.

On March 25, they only covered 144-kilometres, but on March 29 they travelled 242-kilometres.

"We are learning from our experience. If we don't make it, the next guy will, but we will make it," said Bergeron.

That first day was a test of the Rangers and their resolve. They made a mistake and ended up in a riverbed, which slowed down progress.

"We were sucked in by a riverbed. We destroyed two machines and most of the kamotiqs," said Bergeron.

Bergeron has obvious respect for the Rangers he works with.

"I'm so proud to be here. Without these guys, it would be impossible to do that," said Bergeron.

And he said communication between troops and rangers is not a problem.

"The only language barrier is with me." Bergeron is a Francophone born in Trois-Rivieres, Que.

He also will not put his Rangers in danger. High winds delayed the patrols' departure from Eureka.

The media settled for a staged photo op, with the Rangers faking a departure for the cameras.

"When I've got wind like that, I won't put my men in a dangerous situation," said Bergeron.