Yukon hosts Operation NANOOK-TATIGIIT to enhance territorial emergency preparedness

A yearly interagency territorial exercise Operation NANOOK-TATIGIIT took place in the Yukon this week to test and improve territorial emergency preparedness and co-ordination between all levels of government.

This year’s exercise was a simulated winter storm that caused widespread highway closures, power outages and other incidents across southern Yukon, the Yukon government said in a news release.

Participants included the Yukon government, Whitehorse, Carmacks, Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, ATCO Electric, Yukon Energy, NorthwesTel, Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP, federal agencies and volunteer organizations.

The tabletop exercise involved local agencies and territorial and federal partners co-ordinating to procure and deliver supplies and heavy equipment, support vulnerable populations, and establish warming shelters, health and social service support and communications.

Brigadier-General Dan Rivière, Commander of Joint Task Force North, said in the release emergency response continues to be a relevant and evolving topic in the North.

“Our strength is the level of collaboration we have at the community, municipal and territorial levels, as well as between other governmental departments and agencies. Operation NANOOK-TATIGIIT (meaning “Together” in Inuktitut) for 2023 focuses on validating our shared emergency processes in the hypothetical event of extensive power infrastructure failure in extreme cold temperatures around Whitehorse and Carmacks, YT. Planning, and practising any possible emergency event is how we make sure that in a real emergency situation, we can execute our shared plans towards the common goal of keeping our Yukon communities safe,” Rivière said.