National Defence Committee on Oct. 29th, 2009

[A/Commr Pat McDonell]

We'll be exercising Shiprider. That's an exercise that we've done here on the Great Lakes. Shiprider is with the RCMP on a U.S. Coast Guard vessel and American law enforcement on our marine craft. That way, if we interdict or attempt to interdict a vessel that crosses that line out there, we can take the necessary appropriate action and have the resources on board who have the legal authority. So Shiprider will be in play during the Olympics.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

When a situation does arise where our security personnel are on one another's border with Canada and the United States--for example, during the clean-up after the hurricane in New Orleans--is it required for our soldiers, who did provide some supplies in New Orleans, to respect the laws of both Canada and the United States while they're in that country? If so, does the same apply to American security agencies? Must they respect their laws as well as ours when they are in our country?

[Vadm Bruce Donaldson]

We have a civil assistance plan that lays out the provision of support under conditions like this. Obviously when we're helping the United States with a disaster, we would respect U.S. law and we would respect Canadian law. We would be focused very much on doing good and not doing harm. That's really the orientation we go down with. I think we look very carefully at the types of activities we're involved in to make sure there are appropriate limits to that and that we are doing good.

Does that address your question?

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Yes.

At the present time, is the United States at a higher so-called security level than Canada? Do they consider themselves now to be at war?

[Vadm Bruce Donaldson]

I can't really speak to how the U.S. characterizes itself or their security posture.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Okay, very good.

Can you describe at all the process of getting troops to Vancouver and also their eventual withdrawal after the games?

[Vadm Bruce Donaldson]

The transfer of people has been already exercised a few times for Exercises Silver and Spartan Rings that I described. We use Canadian Forces aircraft. We use trucks. We use trains. We use chartered airlift. There are a number of different methods to deliver people into theatre at the right times. There's been a fair amount of communication back and forth to make sure that at least the leadership and the initial elements were in place at the right time, that we were able to set up the theatre so that we can flow the forces in when it's time to do it. Quite a lot of planning has gone into making sure that the right resources are available to deliver people at the right time and to take them back out again.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Thank you very much, Ms. Gallant.

Mr. Paillé, you have the floor.

[Pascal-Pierre Paillé, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for being here.

I have a lot of questions, so I am going to give some of them priority and I will ask that you give written answers for the others.

Mr. Elcock, I would like to be sure that this was a typing mistake and not a strategic mistake. In your document, it says that the Olympic Games will take place from the 12th to the 18th of February, but my information is that it is the 12th to the 28th of February. It would be a shame if the hockey game and the closing ceremonies were not covered by your security service. But I suppose that is simply a mistake.

I would like some information about accommodations. I am the Bloc Québécois sports critic. I visited Vancouver this summer to check out the facilities. I gathered that one of the biggest problems, apart from services in French, which we have already discussed, accommodations are a problem, primarily in the Whistler region. I would like you to tell us about how accommodations are being organized and all of the personnel who will be assigned to Whistler.

[A/Commr Pat McDonell]

I can answer that from the RCMP perspective. Accommodations were a great challenge for us both in the greater Vancouver area and in Whistler. In Whistler accommodations were a combination: a lot were private and there were some hotels. Placing the workforce in Whistler was a big challenge for us, and we had to get out early many months ago to find the appropriate accommodations for the people. In some cases they're renting houses, condominiums, and apartments. It was a challenge.

[Pascal-Pierre Paillé, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

We talked about rising costs. Would it be possible that situations might arise during the Olympic Games that might mean you would have to deploy more resources and there might be another cost increase?

[Ward Elcock]

Mr. Chairman, at this juncture I don't have an expectation that there would be a rise in cost, but the reality is if there were an incident of a proportion that required additional resources beyond anything we've currently planned for, then obviously there may be, but at this juncture I don't foresee that happening. But we would be ready to deal with it were it to happen.

[Pascal-Pierre Paillé, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Thank you.

I would like you to send me the answers to my next two questions in writing.

First, could you tell me whether you have a plan for your various services to deal with the H1N1 flu? I know that at present there is a special situation, but the Olympic Games will be held in February. Have you arranged a scenario in that event that involves assigning more personnel?

Have you arranged for relations with Immigration Canada, given that there may be refugee claims during the Olympic Games? In fact there have been situations like that in the past. Do you have a protocol or plan with Immigration Canada for how to handle that whole issue or is that something that is really under the authority of Immigration Canada?

[Ward Elcock]

If I might just ask on the second question, are you thinking of H1N1 in the context of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, because Citizenship and Immigration Canada is a major partner?

[Pascal-Pierre Paillé, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Those are two different questions.

[Ward Elcock]

In the context of the second question, the easy answer is that the Department of Citzenship and Immigration is a key partner in terms of the accreditation process for anybody coming to the games, or anybody entering Canada at that point in time. But clearly the key part is accreditation, because accreditation at the games is in fact a visa to enter Canada. So for those two you get both at the same time, if you will. Citizenship and Immigration Canada is a key partner in that process.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Thank you, Mr. Paillé.

Mr. Boughen, you have the floor.

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Gentlemen, allow me to add my voice to those of my colleagues in welcoming you here this morning. It's very nice of you to take time to share information with us.

I have one question that is an open-ended question, and I would invite any and all of the panel to respond to it. The question is really what have you seen as the biggest challenge in your planning to stage the games, and how have you dealt with it?

[Ward Elcock]

One of the biggest challenges is that this is a major event—it's a huge event involving a lot of people. In addition, it takes place in a complicated urban environment. Most winter games are not held in major urban centres like Vancouver. That, in and of itself, is a challenge.

Another big challenge is that we're running two separate footprints. They are connected by the Sea-to-Sky Highway, but the Sea-to-Sky Highway could in theory be closed. You can only get a helicopter up through that area 30% of the time. So we're running two separate footprints, and you have to build the capacity in each of those footprints to deal with whatever you worry about. That has been a major challenge.

I don't know whether you two want to add anything.

[A/Commr Pat McDonell]

For us, the major challenge has been mobilization—moving 6,000 police officers out into B.C., identifying them, and getting them accredited. Mind you, some of them are already there. But they all have to have accreditation, so we're working with the various police forces. We have 118 police forces supplying police officers, so you have to identify them by name and photo, transport them there, put them on accommodation, and then organize a 24-hour shift schedule for them.

What we're trying to do is make it an all-Canadian games from a security perspective. We want to have the Sûreté du Québec beside the Toronto police, beside the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, and not one police force by itself at a certain venue or place. That has been a big challenge for our mobilization people, much bigger than we anticipated.

[Vadm Bruce Donaldson]

The biggest challenge from my perspective has been forming a habit of open communication, seamless trust, and operating methodologies with our key partners and all the other security agencies. That has been a real challenge from our perspective, but it's also been a huge success story, and there will be lasting legacies. We're now able to understand each other better. We're able to draw on one another's strengths better, recognize one another's vulnerabilities and cover those off. We're able to imagine, in a way that we could not before, the whole of government planning security.

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Thank you, gentlemen. We're appreciative of all your work on this mammoth task.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Mr. Wilfert.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

I realize that this is a public meeting and cameras are present. I would suggest that in future discussions of security issues, whether it's the Olympics or whatever, we should consider being in camera. It may or may not affect the witnesses' ability to respond. When you're asking about security issues, it's unlikely that you're going to get the answers you want if you're on national television. In the future, I would appreciate more advanced warning than I had this morning. That would be my recommendation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Thank you.

Mr. Dosanjh.