Ottawa has promised tens of billions of dollars for Arctic defence infrastructure over the next decade, but the territorial leaders who will live with the results have been largely absent from the coverage. Vanguard set out to change that, putting the same set of questions to all three northern premiers — Nunavut's John Main, Yukon's Currie Dixon and Northwest Territories' R.J. Simpson — in three separate conversations this summer.

The answers did not line up neatly. One premier described a relationship with the Department of National Defence he called unusually close. Another said he has yet to see a dollar land in his territory, or a phone call from the minister. The third is watching billions move through his territory already, while still worrying about who ends up doing the work and collecting the paycheques.

What does the investment actually look like on the ground in your territory right now?

Main: I think you know it's a welcome investment... long overdue... everything from healthcare to schools to runways to power generation and drinking water. Everything is stretched in terms of our ability to support development.

Dixon: We simply don't know... we haven't seen any direct investment in the Yukon yet. We've heard the big commitments. We've seen significant promises, and unfortunately, we just haven't seen that materialize into any real action in the Yukon yet. I believe the headline of the press release was that it was to transform the North and the Arctic, but... we were largely left out of that.

Simpson: There was a pre-procurement notice for Inuvik and Yellowknife northern operational support hubs at $5-billion each, and I think from what I've heard they're forecasting an increase from that. So there's definitely money being spent.