Back in October 2011, I wrote about the mostly Intuit Canadian Arctic Rangers, who were due to get a new rifle. They patrol some pretty barren and harsh land, and are still using WW2 No. 4 Lee Enfield rifles. They had plans for a new bolt gun as the spare guns that have been cannibalized to keep these guns running are about gone.
Seems the Canadian military can't seem to get the money together to arm these 5000 stalwart souls, so for now, they are still on their own. The project has been pushed back till 2016 to 2021. If they were to get the standard British Enfield army rifle, they are probably better off keeping their old guns. There most likely isn't a chance that the Enfield bullpup would function in harsh Arctic weather.
When push comes to shove, and it might now that the Northwest Passage is soon going to be very real due to the Great Ice Melt that has been underway for quite some time. There are several nations that want into the Artic (the US included), not the least reason being access to new oil fields. With no ice in the way, Canada may be up for a sovereignty fight.
