Under normal circumstances, a commitment to defend Canadian sovereignty would have been relegated to the footnotes of federal election candidates' platform pamphlets. But, as the US president has declared his desire to annex Canada ahead of the country's federal elections, which will be held on Monday, April 28, territorial integrity has emerged as a key campaign theme, and the Arctic has not been forgotten.

Even before the campaign was officially kicked off, the main candidates had already raced to make appearances in the country's Far North, which has become the gateway for foreign powers eyeing up Canada. On February 10, in Iqaluit, the country's northernmost city, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre promised that, if he were elected prime minister, a new military base would be built in the far northern territory of Nunavut, which would be funded by cutting Canadian international aid.

Since then, Mark Carney, the incumbent prime minister and Liberal Party candidate, who has a strong chance of retaining his position, announced a 420 million Canadian dollar (€267 million) plan to deploy soldiers, among other things, to the Arctic.

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