 Neilson was an articulate advocate for the Canadian Forces within the cabinet and was able to increase the military budget with the Canadian brigade in West Germany that had been under-strength ever since 1969 finally brought up to full strength.In 1985, the United States sent an icebreaker through the Northwest Passage without Canadian permission, which first awakened interests in Ottawa about the need to safeguard Canada's claims to Arctic sovereignty A wargame was held in 1986 where the Canadian Air-Sea Transportable Brigade Group (CAST) was ordered to Norway.The CAST operation was a fiasco and showed Canada could not move a military force to Norway, and by implication the Arctic, with the necessary speed.