Prime Minister Stephen Harper took the controls of a Sea King helicopter and travelled on a submarine Wednesday, during a military operation in the Arctic intended to show the world that Canada is ready, willing and able to protect its sovereignty in the North.
Operation Nanook kicked off Wednesday morning, involving the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Coast Guard, with helicopters, naval ships and submarines taking part in a rendezvous in Frobisher Bay.
The prime minister landed by helicopter on the deck of the HMCS Toronto to observe the event, said CTV's Rosemary Thompson, who is travelling with the prime minister.
Harper took the controls for a portion of the flight. When the chopper landed on the ship, the prime minister's feet were hanging out the open door (though he was securely strapped in).
Harper also spent time on the submarine HMCS Corner Brook, which headed underwater for an exercise that involved chasing down and identifying an unknown submarine.
"It's more than an exciting military exercise," Thompson told Canada AM from the deck of the Toronto. "It's a way to show the world that Canada is an Arctic country as we stake our claim to the North."
In an address to the Toronto's crew, Harper said protecting Canada's borders is the "first and foremost responsibility of a national government."
"With other countries probing our north by sea and in the air, the work you are doing here to protect our sovereignty has never been so important," he said.
Denmark, Norway, the U.S. and Russia are all working to map the Arctic ocean floor and find scientific proof to validate their claims to ownership of some parts of the region.
Canada is facing a looming deadline in 2013, when Ottawa and any other country with a claim to the Arctic will have to let the United Nations know which parts of the region it considers its own.
Since becoming prime minister, Harper has made the Arctic one of his priorities, saying Canada must have a strong presence in the region if it intends to maintain its sovereignty there.
Harper arrived in Iqaluit on Monday evening, the first stop on a five-day-long trip to the Arctic that he has made an annual event since becoming prime minister.
In addition to observing the military exercises, the prime minister's agenda in the Arctic also includes visits to various Arctic communities, meetings with Inuit leaders and a cabinet meeting.
On Tuesday, he unveiled the new Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, which the government says will be responsible for administering federal initiatives and infrastructure programs in the region.
Called CanNor, the agency will be headquartered in Iqaluit, but will also have regional offices in Yellowknife and Whitehorse. It will be backed by a five-year, $50-million budget.
Harper and his cabinet also ate seal meat for lunch on Tuesday, and Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl told CTV the prime minister enjoyed the seal meat -- though he did so behind closed doors.
He also defended the annual seal hunt, which has come under fire from animal rights groups around the world.
"The government support for the sealing industry is well known," Harper said.
"The standards in this industry are better, quite frankly, than the standards of other industries that deal with animal products. There is no reason the seal industry should be singled out for discriminatory treatment by Europeans or any other nation."
But Harper's talking points were blunted by a photo of two young boys sleeping outside an Iqaluit grocery store, and a spelling mistake in a news release from the PMO that spelled the territory's capital as "Iqualuit" -- with an extra "u."
With files from The Canadian Press
