Op Nanook coming to Yukon this summer
Part of military's annual Northern training exercise to take place in Whitehorse
Part of the Canadian Forces’ Operation Nanook will take place in Yukon for the first time this year.
The training exercise has been held annually in the North since 2007. Last year the exercise was held in the Western Arctic and in Hudson Bay.
This year's training will take place from Aug. 2 to 23, in Whitehorse and three locations in Nunavut.
The exercise in Whitehorse, from Aug. 4 to 9, will focus on wildfire management and will include a simulated evacuation of a Whitehorse subdivision, a bus crash and a biohazard exercise.
"All of the scenarios are indeed safety and security scenarios, provision and assistance to law enforcement, search for missing persons, and of course in the Whitehorse scenario, assistance in wildfire fighting," said Lt-Col. John St. Dennis.
More than 500 soldiers will be stationed in Whitehorse during the training.
The exercise is expected to cost about $10 million, about $2.5 million of which will be spent in Whitehorse.
In Nunavut, exercises will take place at Cornwallis Island and Resolution Island, and Canadian Rangers will conduct a soveriegnty patrol at King William Island.