Rangers, first established in Yukon, are the watchful eye and paramilitary presence in Canada’s North

Canadian Rangers have been keeping a unique military presence in the North for 75 years and on Monday, they were honoured in Dawson City, Yukon, where the first ranger patrol group formed after the Second World War.

The Rangers received an honour called “Freedom of the City,” an “ancient ritual” where militaries would arrive at walled cities and seek permission to enter, according to Lt.-Col. Kristian Udesen.

This “proved there was a trust and link between that military unit and the citizenry of the city,” said Udesen said.

The Rangers are part of the Canadian Army Reserve, and their responsibilities include surveillance, sovereignty patrols, search and rescue and disaster relief, and training up Armed Forces with survival skills.

“The most important thing is the relationship between the Canadian Rangers, the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the city,” said Udesen.

“It was the city saying we trust you, you can bear arms and enter into our community and we know you won’t take advantage of that.”

Sgt. John Mitchell is from the Dawson City Ranger Patrol. He was elected sergeant in 1991 and served continuously for 30 years before stepping aside to work with junior rangers.

“To start 30 years ago and bring the patrol up to basically the number one patrol, in my opinion, in Canada is pretty awesome,” Mitchell said.

Asked how he feels seeing the young generation performing drills, Mitchell said the aim isn’t to just “make future soldiers.”

“There’s a whole life skills element that’s more important for the junior rangers … to pass on the traditional knowledge of how to take care of yourself in the woods, and to harvest, but also to learn civic responsibility and community responsibility,” said Mitchell.

Dawson City Mayor Bill Kendrick granted the Rangers the Freedom of the City to highlight the trust Canadian Rangers have in the community.

The Rangers marched down Front Street with their arms, but this week, they will undertake a much larger journey.

On Tuesday, the Rangers will travel from Pelly Crossing to Dawson City by river in a five-day training course focusing on community issues and river navigation.

‘Grassroots’ northern defence

Whitney Lackenbauer is a Canada research chair at Trent University and an honorary lieutenant colonel for First Canadian Ranger Patrol Group.

During the war, Lackenbauer said the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers launched in coastal B.C. to protect against potential invasions. It was disbanded after the Japanese surrendered in 1945 but new threats were emerging.

Established in August 1947 following the Second World War, the Rangers formed to protect against emerging threats in the Soviet Union, said Lackenbauer.

“We had to be attentive to security risks in our North … but the risk wasn’t so acute, so serious, that it would require us to station large numbers of regular forces in the North,” said Lackenbauer.

The first Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, which spans Yukon, N.W.T. and Nunavut was conceived as a “grassroots” way to keep defences in remote areas of Canada following the war. The model keeps people in their communities and on their homelands, Lackenbauer said.

“Rather than converting them into soldiers, it’s really best to think of the Rangers as a distinct form of military service that we’ve created, and that is uniquely Canadian and tailor made for northern and isolated coastal communities,” he said.

“They’ve been a tremendous success story of how the Canadian military has gone and tapped into the tremendous expertise and knowledge that resides in northern Canadians at the community level.”