Separated from their families, these men are put to work building the highway between Jasper and Blue River. They receive hostile treatment from paranoid Jasper residents, who begin to arm themselves in a bout of self-righteous fervor. The Japanese-Canadians are moved the same year. A Scottish regiment of special mountain troops called the Lovat Scouts trains in winter conditions in Jasper. That same year, Operation Habbakuk, a prototype barge of sawdust and ice, is built and tested in secrecy at Patricia Lake.
Military command hopes to float such barges as mid-Atlantic airfields.
Although shown to be resistant to enemy attack, such ships are never deployed. The test model is abandoned in 1944 and its infrastructure sinks to the bottom of Patricia Lake.