Furtive JTF-2 emerges from shadows as Harper touts Arctic military might [to protect northern resources] – by Jordan Press (Ottawa Citizen – August 25, 2012)

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First public display of special forces unit

Harper told a group of military men and women that having forces in the North was
crucial to protecting the oil, natural gas and mining deposits that his government
sees as key to the country’s economic future.
 
“Through history and geography, it has become Canada’s destiny to protect a large
portion of our planet’s North. Canada has been a consistent champion of the Arctic
as a zone of responsible development, environmental protection and international
peace,” Harper told troops during a speech aboard HMCS St. John’s.

The Canadian Forces brought out of the shadows its elite special forces unit Friday, put-ting Joint Task Force 2 on display for Prime Minister Stephen Harper on a day when the prime minister said the military could – and would – be ready to defend the North’s abundant natural resources.
 
The unprecedented view of and access to the highly secretive JTF-2, whose members’ names and faces are not publicly known, was the first time the elite unit put on a public demonstration of its capabilities, boarding a moving vessel by sea and air in Hudson Bay in a prepared scenario where a suspected terrorist was aboard an ecotourism vessel headed for Canada. 
JTF-2 has been involved in operations in Afghanistan, Zaire, Haiti and Rwanda, but has largely been kept out of the public eye. For years, the military wouldn’t even ac-knowledge the unit existed, even though it became a Canadian Forces unit in 1993. Even today, the military won’t confirm or deny questions about the unit’s involvement in missions.

“This is a tier-one, (special operations force) organization that is unparalleled with any of our global partners,” said Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, who oversees the special operations forces section of the military, which includes JTF-2.
 
“They’re pretty proud of themselves and they ought to be. They’re not in the public eye – as you know – and probably will never be for a whole bunch of operational security reasons. But it’s important for them to be seen to be contributing to Canada’s overall defence because a lot of what we do is in the shadows.”
 
The Prime Minister’s Office encouraged the military to have JTF-2 involved in Operation Nanook, and asked the military to allow the media to watch the unit in action. When asked if the Canadian public could expect more displays given how Friday’s event went, Thompson said: “I don’t think that’s necessarily the conclusion I would make.”
 
The demonstration wrapped up the military’s annual Northern exercise, known as Operation Nanook. Harper, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Canada’s top soldier, Gen. Walt Natync-zyk watched JTF-2 close up on the last day of Harper’s annual tour of the North.
 
Harper has long been an advocate for a beefed up presence in the North, going back to his days in opposition, and his previous trips to Canada’s North have involved multi-million dollar military investments, but he had largely avoided talking about the military on this trip, focusing more on the development of natural resources.
 
Harper told a group of military men and women that having forces in the North was crucial to protecting the oil, natural gas and mining deposits that his government sees as key to the country’s economic future.
 
“Through history and geography, it has become Canada’s destiny to protect a large portion of our planet’s North. Canada has been a consistent champion of the Arctic as a zone of responsible development, environmental protection and international peace,” Harper told troops during a speech aboard HMCS St. John’s.
 
For the rest of this article, please go to the Ottawa Citizen website: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Furtive+emerges+from+shadows+Harper+touts+Arctic+military+might/7143290/story.html