Operation Canopy (OP Canopy) was the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Forc ...

(CF) participation in Canadian government efforts to help the residents of

Kashechewan The Kashechewan First Nation (, cr, ᑫᔒᒋᐗᓐ ᐃᓕᓕᐗᒃ, kêšîciwan ililiwak) is a Cree First Nation band government located near James Bay in Northern Ontario, Canada. The community is located on the northern shore of the Alban ...

, Ontario during an evacuation of the community in late 2005. Military personnel flew to Kashechewan to supplement local water treatment facilities. Media reports indicated 138 military personnel participated in OP Canopy, including: * a

ROWPU Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a partially permeable membrane to separate ions, unwanted molecules and larger particles from drinking water. In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is used to overcome osmotic ...

detachment consisting of personnel from 4 Airfield Engineer Squadron (4 AES) at 4 Wing

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, Alberta, and 86 Airfield Support Unit (86 ASU) at 8 Wing

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, Ontario; * members from 3

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Patrol Group located in northern Ontario who helped with

operations, distribution of drinking water, assistance to community elders, and liaison with community leaders; and * reservists, employed as liaison officers in Cochrane, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, and

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...

(all in Ontario). The detachment arrived in Kashechewan on 30 October 2005 and, according to media reports, was producing treated water from raw water obtained from the Albany River within 12 hours of arrival. OP Canopy continued until 16 December 2005. The mission produced enough potable water to meet the community’s daily needs during the operation, as well as creating a reserve of treated water - a total of 140,000 litres (almost 30,800 imperial gallons, or almost 37,000 U.S. gallons). Media coverage of documents released to Canadian media under Canada's ''

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'' suggested the exercise was perceived as a public relations exercise. One report in the documents said, "No estimate, detailed planning or needs assessment were completed before the commitment of the personnel and equipment .... Although an excellent PR exercise, the true need of the detachment was never established." Other problems highlighted in media: * ".... the high-tech equipment did not work well in cold temperatures and water drawn from the river had to be preheated before being treated ...." * ".... finding storage space (in the community) for 190,000 litre bags of water that were filled only to three-quarters capacity to allow for expansion in case they froze in the northern climate ...." While the Canadian Forces reportedly said OP Canopy cost about $350,000 in "incremental" expenses (costs over and above operating and salary costs routinely spent even if the staff and equipment used had not been deployed to Kashechewan), an internal military e-mail reportedly puts the true cost at more than $860,000, including pay for personnel and CC-130 Hercules flights. Based on these figures, each litre of treated water cost approximately CDN$6.14 to produce (approximately CDN$27.92 per imperial gallon, or approximately CDN$23.24 per U.S. gallon).

External links

Operation CANOPY: Canadian Forces Assistance To Kashechewan
Canadian Forces web page
cached version of Fact Sheet via archive.com
. *Moon, Peter
"CF flies to the aid of a stricken First Nation,"
The Maple Leaf (CF newsletter), Vol. 8, No. 40, 16 November 2005.
"Troops saw Kashechewan operation as PR exercise,"
Canadian Press, via CTV.ca, 14 May 2006.'' {{coord, 52.2941, N, 81.6301, W, display=title Disasters in Ontario