I am going to go round this again, jus' 'cause. To most folks, a vessel that can navigate through ice is an ice breaker. The Norwegian's certainly feel that their Svalbard is an ice breaker despite it having been decided by the experts on this site that it is too light to be an icebreaker. On the other hand there is apparently some sympathy for the notion it would make a useful northern patrol vessel.
As to the issue of carrying rifles and helicopters, I think Colin P has successfully, and repeatedly, argued that there would be labour issues (akin to those being experienced over arming the Border Guards), if the Coast Guard were to be employed on armed intercepts.
Further, wrt the Polar 8, that was for a single vessel class. Numerous times people have argued the inadvisability of only purchasing a single vessel, primarily on the grounds that it likely to be unavailable when you need it. If there was a classic case of electioneering symbology that would be it.
Cheers sir.