Canada Courts Arctic Allies To Counter Russia

Russia’s saber-rattling in the Arctic is forcing Canada to deepen military cooperation with its Nordic NATO allies — a marked policy shift away from the United States.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has dispatched two top Cabinet ministers to Sweden and Finland this week in pursuit of new defense deals — including a look at Sweden’s Saab Gripen fighter jet. Canada had previously decided on the Lockheed Martin F-35, a flagship export under President Donald Trump. But amid a trade war, at a time when other allies are turning away from the U.S. war plane, Canada is reconsidering its C$19-billion plan to buy a new fleet of F-35s.

“Clearly, there are trade tensions [with the U.S.], and we want to become closer to our friends,” Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday as Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch formally welcomed her to Stockholm.

Canada’s Arctic defense strategy is shifting away from a bilateral relationship with the United States toward a broader NATO framework. With Sweden and Finland joining NATO after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine — and in the wake of Trump’s tariff attacks — Ottawa is widening its foreign policy focus to align with NATO as the foundation of its Arctic security.

Busch said she welcomed a strategic partnership, “focusing on security and defense, investment and competitiveness, digital innovation and energy raw materials.”

Joly name-checked Canadian ties to Saab, as well as to Sweden tech giants Ericsson and ABB (Asea Brown Boveri). “We have the crown jewels of the private sector of Sweden already in our country, but we want to do more,” the minister said.

On Tuesday, Canada added one more jewel when Roshel, a Canadian manufacturer of armored vehicles, signed a "strategic partnership agreement" with Swedish steel producer Swebor.

Roshel said in a statement that the partnership will "establish Canada’s first facility dedicated to production of ballistic-grade steel" — a key ingredient in military vehicles.

Earlier in the trip, Joly visited Saab, the Swedish manufacturer of the Gripen — at one time a runner-up on Canada’s shortlist to replace its aging fleet of CF-18s. Lockheed Martin won that contract, and will deliver 16 of the stealth fighters so far.

Joly is joined on this week’s trip by Stephen Fuhr, Canada’s new secretary of state for defense procurement, as Ottawa contemplates whether it will buy 72 more F-35s.

Later in the week, Joly is to cut the ribbon on a joint Finnish-Canadian shipbuilding venture that will begin manufacturing a new fleet of icebreakers for Canada’s Coast Guard.

Meanwhile in Europe, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand was scheduled to meet with Finland President Alexander Stubb on Tuesday. The tête-à-tête follows Stubb's appearance at the White House Monday alongside other European leaders, supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Trump-brokered negotiation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to end the war in Eastern Europe.

Anand said NATO, which was founded during the Cold War on the premise it was an eastward-facing European bulwark against the Soviet Union, must confront Russia beyond Europe’s borders in the Far North.

“NATO's gaze also has to shift westward and north because of the changing geopolitical landscape, especially following Feb. 24, 2022,” Anand said Monday. “Our priority in terms of Canada's Arctic foreign policy is to ensure that we leave no stone unturned to protect and defend Canada's sovereignty,” she added.

Anand said that will mean tens of billions of dollars of new spending on Arctic infrastructure. The minister added that it was no longer appropriate for civilian and military infrastructure projects to exist in bureaucratic “silos.”

“When we talk about critical minerals in the north, yes, that's an economic question, but it's also a defense and security question, and it is embedded in our foreign policy,” Anand said.

Anand met with foreign ministers from the Nordic 5 group of countries, including her host, Elina Valtonen, and their counterparts from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland.

They later issued a joint statement of unwavering solidarity with Ukraine.

“The Nordic countries and Canada are ready to play an active role in combining the efforts of the Coalition of the Willing with those of the United States to ensure the strength and credibility of these security guarantees,” Anand and her Nordic counterparts said.

They emphasized that Ukraine’s borders must remain intact, and that Russia has no “veto” over Ukraine’s possible pathway to EU or NATO membership. They also called for the return of thousands of Ukrainian children who were taken to Russia after the war started.

“For as long as Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, we — together with partners and allies — will continue to maintain and increase pressure on Russia’s war economy,” the Nordic 5 said.

“Russia poses a long-term threat to European security.”