Karen Mackenzie
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 20, 2007

NUNAVUT - The Canadian Rangers are set to expand for the first time since previous plans were scuttled in 2003.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the 900-person boost to 5,000 from 4,100, on Aug. 10. He was in Resolute Bay to outline plans for a new Arctic training facility and military port in Nunavut.

Iglulik's Joanasi Sarpinak, who has been a Ranger for more than 20 years, said he was very happy with the news of the expansion.

"We only have 27 (members) at this moment, because people moved in and out," he said. "There are always some people who are interested in becoming a Ranger every time we do exercises. We even have a waiting list."

The same goes for Sanikiluaq, according to Ronnie Tookalook, a Ranger of three years.

"Locals here know they can get on-the-land skills during their Rangers activities," he said, adding that his patrol group would like to see more exercises take place. "Elders share their information with us - what to expect on the land and ice, what parts of the ice are dangerous and what kind of weather to expect."

Those skills are valuable to the community as a whole, according to Sarpinak.

"For search and rescue, the hamlet asks for help because we've been trained to do that," he said.

Although no new Ranger patrols will be formed, the number of people in existing patrols should be raised to the current maximum of 30, according to Canadian Forces public affairs officer Joanna Labonte.

The move will translate into an approximate $240-million increase for Ranger pay and operations over a period of about 20 years.

A Rangers expansion announced in 2000 - to 4,800 from 3,500 by March 2008 - had been halted in order to re-examine the group's mission as well as command and control issues, Labonte said.

During that period, it was also decided that the five Canadian Rangers Patrol Groups will now also report directly to the army rather than Joint Task Force North (JTFN), she explained.

The official change of command will take place in October, she said, adding that JTFN will continue to provide input.

Amidst all the change, things should remain "business as usual" for community patrol groups, she said.

There are close to 1,500 Rangers throughout the three territories now.

The patrols, which were formed during the Cold War as part of the Canadian Forces Reserve, report suspicious activities, act as guides for Forces deployments and often take part in local search and rescue operations.