National Defence Committee on Feb. 25th, 2015

[The Chair, Conservative, Peter Kent]

Two minutes.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Search and rescue has been an interest of mine since I was elected to Parliament in 2008. One of the major issues I've raised in this committee—and we did a study related to it—is the search and rescue response times. I understand from media reports that there's an evaluation taking place, and it's already been tested in Comox and Trenton, and it's now under way in the Halifax SAR region to test the operational efficiency of running a 30-minute response time 24/7, which is good news to my ears, sir.

Could you tell us a little bit more about that evaluation, when it's started, how long it is going to be taking, and what the results are so far?

[RAdm John Newton]

Right. There has been one news report on a change to the SAR posture in Atlantic Canada. The idea of the report was correct, but the substance of the report was totally wrong. We have 40 hours of 30-minute response time in the Maritimes, as we speak. After we get into this new trial starting on the May long weekend, we will still have 40 hours of 30-minute response time.

What we're doing is shifting when we're at the 30-minute response in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I., and Newfoundland to the right slightly during the day to match up with the marine industry's use of the waters and the recreational boaters' use of the waters. So, statistically we can show that if we can move slightly to the right when we're at 30 minutes' notice during the week, and especially on weekends, we can capture more search and rescue incidents that arise.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

And you can confirm—

[The Chair, Conservative, Peter Kent]

Time, Mr. Harris. You'll have to revisit this in your next opportunity. Thank you very much.

Mr. Chisu, please. Seven minutes.

[Corneliu Chisu, Conservative, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much, Admiral, for your presentation. It was very enlightening.

How is the rapidly changing international defence and security environment affecting Canada, the United States, and North America from a maritime perspective, especially in the Arctic—if you can elaborate—with Russia's ambitions in that?

[RAdm John Newton]

It's an excellent question, sir, and a very broad question.

There are several threats in the international realm right now, or several rapidly developing situations. One is the continuing unrest in several Arab countries and in the Middle East; the other is Russia's aggression in the Ukraine. Each of these is different. I don't know whether I can draw lines between Russia and the Arab Spring phenomenon, but Canada's government has shown a distinct policy intent to demonstrate forward presence using elements of the Canadian Armed Forces.

One of the elements chosen was the Royal Canadian Navy. We have been an active participant in the CTF-150, which is the Combined Task Force 150, in the northern Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. Right now, the Royal Canadian Navy has a commodore and 20 Canadians commanding the combined task force, which has ships of France, Britain, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and the U.S. Coast Guard passing through the command from time to time.

Why are we there? We are there to demonstrate the interest of Canada in those important and strategic waterways that flow through the Strait of Hormuz, where the energy flows of the planet focus. We're there to learn about the Indian Ocean, to help like-minded states and states with a desire to move toward legitimate use of the seas and democratic ideals build capacity in their militaries. We're there to learn relationships among nations and to develop a trust for Canadian Armed Forces in the region.

We do not have a ship there. We've moved our ship from CTF-150 into the Mediterranean Sea to deal with that other adversarial situation with Russia, and to reassure our NATO allies, especially Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey—countries such as those—that NATO stands behind its article 5 statement of collective defence anywhere at any time. Our navy is doing what it can, forward-deployed with like-minded navies of the coalition and CTF-150, or with the NATO alliance.

In the Canadian Arctic, there is no doubt increased activity. It's mainly commercial; it's mainly tourism-related; it's mainly related to changes in the ice regime and climate. However, there are military phenomena in the north, but mainly reserved for my friends in NORAD to deal with. The Royal Canadian Navy continues to go to the Arctic as a full partner with all the other government departments to help in the management of consequences of oil spills, search and rescue, crashed airliners that are using the polar air routes, or even something military that might develop on land. But I wouldn't want to overstate here that there is aggression or a military threat in the Arctic.

[Corneliu Chisu, Conservative, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

Thank you very much, Admiral.

Which state and non-state actors challenge Canada's maritime approaches, mostly in the Atlantic, and how frequently does it occur? I'm speaking about not only military, but fishing vessels that are trying to fish illegally in our waters, and so on.

[RAdm John Newton]

I think Canada has done a very good job, sir, of policing its 200-mile economic exclusion zone and working with the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization to bring jurisdiction and governance to waters far more distant than even the Flemish Cap and the tail and nose of the Grand Banks. Canada's navy has been a strong partner with Fisheries and Oceans to serve as the taxi for their peace officers at sea. We have a very tight relationship and we share the procedures, the tactics, and the intelligence on how to conduct those fisheries patrols to maximum effect. Over the years, we have worked the international fishing fleets, the rogue fleets, and nations that are a little bit more assertive in the fishing domain. We have pushed them back, and there is a considerable amount of international respect earned for Canada's legislation and jurisdiction and regulation of the fisheries of the North Atlantic.

I would not say that this is our principal threat, although you mentioned it in your introduction. The principal threat from non-state actors is the use of the sea lanes—the big-box traffic that comes in thousands of containers per ship and the importation of illicit cargoes. They could be arms, explosives, precursor chemicals; they could be drugs. I would say that right now the most prevalent cargo threatening Canada is drugs. And it's not just the drugs; it's the revenue from the drugs, which is a destabilizing influence. We tend to take that battle to the Caribbean Basin and deal with it in depth. We don't tend to deal with it here.

[Corneliu Chisu, Conservative, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

We have a little border with France: Saint Pierre and Miquelon. How is France actually involved in, let's say, the Atlantic area?

[RAdm John Newton]

France is an enduring ally, sir.

It's a beautiful—

[Corneliu Chisu, Conservative, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

Do you have exercises with France or something? Because—

[RAdm John Newton]

We do not do military exercises because of the location of Saint Pierre and Miquelon in our waters, but France is an enduring ally. They send their warships to Halifax, to Quebec City. They participate in Rendez-Vous Naval. They carried the Royal 22nd Regiment at sea on the Mistral last year. French submarines will exercise in passing our waters en route to work with the United States and other allies. The French will use a government ship called the Fulmar for the patrol of the fisheries fleets with us, so they will do the international part using their fishing ship in support of the North Atlantic fisheries observers. We provide search and rescue coverage to the waters of Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

I can only say it's a very strong and positive relationship. We'll actually support the yacht race that goes there every year.

[The Chair, Conservative, Peter Kent]

Thank you, Mr. Chisu, that's time.

Ms. Murray for seven minutes, please.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Thank you, Rear admirable—I think that's a Freudian slip.

You've noted in your comments the fine reputation of the Royal Canadian Navy. I would certainly second that idea. I thank friends and naval cadets newly joined to the armed forces, the Royal Canadian Navy.

You mentioned that your focus is on preserving an increasing operational readiness. I'm wanting to understand the challenges that you face, given the steady decline in the RCN's ability to achieve required levels of readiness according to the December 2013 evaluation of naval forces. You talked in your remarks also about having to—or doing the best to—preserve some degree of freedom in your manoeuvre, given the lack of supply ships, so there are a lot of challenges that you face. The navy will be obliged to do less with less according to this review. I just wonder if you could give us a few words about what kinds of things you are having to put aside given the decrease in funding and the failure to replace ships in a timely way?

[RAdm John Newton]

Yes, ma'am. That's a big question.

The Canadian Atlantic fleet, or the Canadian fleet, is as ready and capable as it ever was, but there are changes and there are resource pressures. Since the report of the chief review services—I think you're reading from it—from 2013, ships have been returning to the navy in a steady stream from the Halifax-class modernization. At 20 years old the fleet has been modernized.

In my fleet we have deployed Fredericton, fully modernized for the next 20 years of her life. It's an incredibly capable ship. She's followed by Halifax and Montreal, which are out there doing the business right now on the high seas helping deliver the Cyclone helicopter. Hot on the heels of that ship is HMCS Charlottetown, and St. John's will come back to the navy momentarily.

What has changed since that report is this steady flow of modernized warships back to the navy. By the same token, the submarine has risen to high readiness and is now preparing to fire her torpedoes with the United States Navy, and then we'll be ready for the government to signal their intent or not to deploy her.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Okay, thank you.

So in the Strategic Outlook for Canada, this very recent CDA Institute report, on page one it says:

...the Navy enters 2015 significantly weakened; the Government’s deficit cutting has resulted in a 23% cut in the Navy’s funding to keep what remains of the available fleet at sea.

Are you saying that this is inaccurate, or are there areas in which you are no longer engaged in order to protect the operational readiness in other aspects of your responsibility?

[RAdm John Newton]

I can't dress this up any differently. We did retire HMCS Preserver on the east coast and we did retire HMCS Athabaskan. Those decisions were taken to allow the navy to focus good dollars on the best and most highly useful ships of the fleet. We're incredibly proud of the two ships the navy asked to retire. They have done incredible service for our country, and there is a national shipbuilding procurement strategy to re-deliver capacities like those two classes of ships that have been retired. We will bridge to the arrival of those ships in time by compromising.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

May I ask a bit about that, because we talked to Rear-Admiral Truelove about that, I think. He said something about there being a possibility of leasing, or there were some options being discussed, because the plan B, which had been to borrow the capacity of resupply from our partners, was not going to work, given how long it will be before they're replaced, thanks to the significant delays in this shipbuilding procurement strategy delivering.

[RAdm John Newton]

Yes, ma'am. That's my commander's business, to work with government to create a bridging strategy to the building of the joint support ship and to the Canadian surface combatant, to which the navy is fundamentally committed.

My job is to find ways, working with our allies, to increase the capacity of the fleet we have. So we very carefully now choose the highest impact exercises, like the Rim of the Pacific exercise, like Trident Juncture with NATO, like the task group exercise in which we are working with four major surface combatants of the United States navy and two nuclear submarines right as we speak, right now.

My job is to find those training opportunities so our navy comes up to the level of readiness despite the absence of those two classes of ship.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

So it's somebody else who's figuring out the bridging; that's what I'm hearing.

[RAdm John Newton]

Yes, ma'am.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

I'm going to ask you about search and rescue.

One of my colleagues asked a question today about the squadron of long-range drones that had been announced repeatedly for 5 Wing Goose Bay, and according to a recent department document, it's indefinitely delayed. Can you give us some information as to why? Is that a casualty of all the funding cuts that the department has received, or are there other reasons? Does that influence or affect the ability to fully cover the area that those long-range drones would have helped with in terms of search?

[RAdm John Newton]

Ma'am, with all due respect, I have to refer that question to the air force, which would be working on the purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles, but I do control the surveillance mission for the eastern seaboard of Canada. It's called Op Leviathan, and right now and going into the near-term future, I have adequate forces at my disposal. I'm working with the integrated maritime partnership of chartered flights from provincial aerospace, long-range patrol aviation of the air force, using the upgraded Aurora, which has just been modernized. The capability of that aircraft does not allow a linear correlation of the past to the future.

These new aircraft, the Cyclone and the Block III Aurora, are so capable that you must accept that there are going to be changes in force outlays of fleets of aircraft. We have the Block III. We are taking delivery of the Cyclone. We have a great relationship with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Environment Canada, and Transport Canada, and we all fly surveillance aircraft to monitor Canada's maritime space.

[The Chair, Conservative, Peter Kent]

Your time is up, Ms. Murray.

We'll go to Mr. Williamson, beginning the five-minute segment round.