TCT- News desk March 12
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a new plan to defend and transform Canada’s North, which involves investing $35 billion in infrastructure for its military air bases and two northern airports.

The money that is expected to be spent over the next decade comes from the funds previously announced in 2022 as part of a North American Air Defense (Norad) modernization strategy.
In a background briefing, defence officials said that contracts were going out for tender now, while the government is actively looking for builders in the private sector to help expand its air bases.
“Previous governments had lacked the scale and the breadth of strategy that the vast region demands.” said, a news release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

“After decades of limited and piecemeal investments in the North, Canada’s new government is acting with a sale of ambition worthy of this vast region and its peoples,” the Prime Minister said. “We are securing every corner of this terrain, unlocking its vast resources and delivering the strong connected network of communities that Northerners deserve.”
The government will “defend fully Canada’s Arctic and North, deter new threats and support NATO allies and Norad continental defence.” Prime minister Carney’s plan outlines a spending of $32 billion at forward operating military bases in Yellowknife, Inuvik, N.W.T., Iqaluit, Nunavut and at Deployed Operating Base (DOB) in 5 Wing Goose Bay in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L. It is learnt that these bases are designed to support F-35s and possibly also support Gripen fighters.