I think you're being a little disingenuous, CR. I think you're saying that it's their job to perform the maneuvers and that as long as they were going to be up there anyway, there is not a particularly strong argument to made that they were wasting taxpayer dollars. And I think I'm with you up to that point. __From there, you don't seem all that bothered that what would otherwise be routine maneuvers contributed to a pretty spiffy photo-op for PMSH, whereas it tends to raise my eyebrows a bit. I'll be happy to go on record as saying my eyebrows arch no higher or lower for PMSH that they would for PMMI or PMJL (snik!) in a similar case, if you'll promise to defend any one of their rights to politicize the military as strenuously as you have defended the current titelholder's.

"Any other"? You can't bring yourself to say PMJL, not even very quietly, just for fun?

Wasting taxpayer's money for this kind of Bush-esque nonsense is idiotic regardless of which government is doing it. I'd trash the Liberals for doing exactly the same thing.

And yes, I very much doubt Canada would have this kind of "military exercise" if the PM wasn't there. It's empty-headed posturing.

That being said, we should be investing in northern infrastructure and housing, like the Conservatives promised years ago. The Inuit are still waiting…

That's quite a well-thought-out statement there CR. Perhaps you should change your handle to "Sweeping_Generalizations" or "Mindless_Verbiage".

As Dave already pointed out in this thread, I also can't think of any useful military exercise that involves halting a sub, frigate and having three CF-18s fly overhead. If that isn't a photo op, I don't know what is.

It may be called a "military exercise" (thus my earlier quotation marks) by the PMO and the Armed Forces but it is really empty posturing. If the Americans or Russians wanted to establish a military presence in the Canadian Arctic, realistically there is very little Canada could do about it since we lack the resources to fully protect/patrol our vast north.

What Harper and the Conservatives need to do, if they are serious about Canadian sovereignty in the North, is invest in infrastructure and housing for the northerners (which they have done very little of so far) and, yes, more military investments as well (which admittedly, they appear to be finally getting around to).

Nevertheless, our claims to the North depends on real investments not on hare-brained photo ops.

Where's Crit_Reasoning when you need him?

Harper on Arctic sovereignty mission
By Michel Comte (AFP) – Aug 17, 2009

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper embarked Monday on an Arctic tour that will culminate with a massive display of military muscle aimed at reinforcing Canada's sovereignty claims in the resource-rich region.

Harper's first port of call on the five-day trip will be Iqaluit, formerly Frobisher Bay, at the southern tip of Baffin Island, where he will hold a cabinet meeting.

The main event comes on Wednesday when he will observe Operation Nanook, an annual military exercise trumpeting Canada's sovereignty over a large swath of Arctic territory to the east of Baffin Island.

Five countries bordering the Arctic — Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States — claim overlapping parts of the region, which is estimated to hold 90 billion untapped barrels of oil.

Harper will board a frigate and then a submarine as it dives into the icy waters near Iqaluit, Brigadier-General David Millar, commander of Joint Task Force North, told public broadcaster CBC.

In its fifth year, the Canadian military exercises — running from August 6 to August 28 — are the biggest they have ever been. "We're growing our capability, and ramping up," navy spokesman Lieutenant Jordan Holder told AFP.

This year it includes 700 personnel, aircraft patrolling the Hudson and Davis Straits, as well as the frigate HMCS Toronto and submarine HMCS Corner Brook, which will take part in anti-submarine warfare exercises along Canada's northern frontier.

"It's the first time that we have an anti-submarine component to the exercise," Holder said. "It's meant to demonstrate our ability to respond to reports of unauthorized activity both above and below the surface."

One exercise in the war games will see commandos specially trained and equipped for Arctic deployment make an amphibious landing on a remote island, he said.