Operation Nunakput 2015 navigates Mackenzie River
It's an unsettling sight. A man is overboard in Great Slave Lake.
Rescue boats rush from the shore of Hay River. After a little struggle, fisheries officer Greg Kinsman is safely aboard an RCMP rescue boat.
"It gives you peace of mind they can get you out in such a quick and safe manner," he says.
Clad in a full-body insulated wetsuit, Kinsman was in the water on purpose. He's part of Operation Nunakput 2015, the annual Arctic sovereignty exercise that includes members of the Canadian Forces, RCMP and federal officers from Fisheries and Oceans and Environment Canada.
Side by side
More than 100 people are taking part in the operation, which will see participants travel 1,800 kilometres along Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River, from Hay River to Tuktoyaktuk.
"It's nice to be able to work together. They have an expertise and a role that sometimes we're learning from. They're learning from us sometimes as well," says Todd Scaplen of the Hay River RCMP.
New personnel will join along the way. A group of Rangers are waiting on a beach as the boats near Fort Providence.
"It's good for all of us, we all get training and the next year if I can't do it, I'll pass it on to the next ranger and they have everything that they need," says Sgt Clifford Bandell of the Canadian Rangers.
'A visible presence'
This trip isn't just about training. It's also meant as a way to assert Canadian sovereignty in the North. "It's about having a visible presence in the North," says Navy Captain Bradley Peats, Deputy Commander of Joint Taskforce North. "[We're] demonstrating that we can operate in any types of conditions whether it be in the winter on the ice or whether it be in the summer in a marine environment."
For RCMP and the Rangers, it's also about keeping the waters safe as they head upriver. "It's not that different than pulling a car over," says Scalpen, the RCMP officer. "We're looking for things like impaired boating, illegal contraband being transported through our waterways."
Operation Nunakput continues until July 23.