An Inuit-owned company has been awarded a seven-year contract to operate and maintain North America’s early-warning radar system in the Canadian Arctic, placing the security and sovereignty of the northern expanse squarely in the hands of its traditional peoples.
The $592-million contract for the operation and upkeep of the North Warning System (NWS) went to Nasittuq Corp. The Iqaluit-based company takes over from Raytheon Technologies at a particularly sensitive time for Arctic sovereignty and management.
On March 2, 1951, the Department of National Defence published the first casualty list of the Korean War, which included the name of the first Canadian to die there—Regimental Sergeant Major James D. Wood.
His death was not combat related so his story is easily overlooked among the hundreds who lost their lives in battle. Wood, a decorated Second World War veteran, died preparing comrades for the dangers they would face in combat.
Royal Canadian Legion, US Branch #25 