In 1968, Parliament passed the Unification Act - and the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force ceased to exist. Amidst the smouldering tension of the Cold War with the Soviet Union and the nationwide bedlam created by the (dis)integration, M/Corporal Painter, an expert Electrical Technician with a startling and often outrageous sense of humour, is posed to a top-secret station in the high Arctic. There he finds a world even more addled than the one he left on The Outside. Commanded by a cheery major called Ducky for his ability to dodge unpleasant situations, the station is actually run by an iron-fisted Chief Warrant Officer who harries the men for dress deportment, lint under the dryers and snow on their mukluks. The station is manned by an engaging array of characters whose days are often chaotic and intense, but also filled with fierce camaraderie and unlikely comedy. Each of the 100 men are affected in various ways by the chief, the unending darkness, the absolute isolation and the separation from families. Their stories are at once hilarious, touching and joyous. .