Last Friday, Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay revealed that two of Russia’s military bombers came very close to breaching Canadian airspace in the Arctic the day before President Obama’s first visit to Canada.  The event took place on February 18^th, approximately 24 hours before the President’s visit.

Canadian CF-18 fighter jets were sent from Cold Lake, Alberta to cut off the long-range Tupolev TU-95s and signal to the Russian bombers to back off. According to Mr. MacKay the Canadian pilots sent, “a strong signal that they [the Russian pilots] should back off and stay out of our airspace.”

While the Russian bombers did not actually breach Canadian airspace, they did wander into an area of international airspace that Canada monitors and controls.

It didn’t slip past Mr. MacKay that the Russian bombers came close to Canadian Arctic airspace when a good portion of Canadian security was focused on the capital city of Ottawa, in anticipation of President Obama’s visit.

Mr. MacKay said, “I am not going to stand here and accuse the Russians of having deliberately done this during the presidential visit, but it was a strong coincidence.”

During a recent trip to Saskatoon, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper voiced his concerns over the incident, and Russia’s aggressiveness in general, “This is a real concern to us. I have expressed at various times the deep concern our government has with increasingly aggressive Russian actions around the globe and Russian intrusions into our airspace.”

Commander of North American Aerospace Defence Command, U.S. General Gene Renuart, said that more than 20 Russian aircrafts have been identified by U.S. and Canadian jets in recent years performing military exercises near North American airspace.   While Gen. Renuart says that the Russians have not done anything illegal or broken any international rules by entering Canadian or American airspace, Mr. MacKay is still frustrated that the Russians have ignored several requests for notification of when Russian aircraft will be approaching Canadian air zones.

“It’s not a game at all … I have personally asked both the Russian ambassador and my counterpart [in Russia] that we are given a heads up when this type of air traffic is to occur, and to date we have not received that kind of notice.”