National Defence committee  Can I respond to that? I think the answer is absolutely yes. In fact, this is exactly at the heart of strategic discussions certainly between the United States and its allies, and a rising actor in Asia, and a restless actor in Eurasia. They are trying to deny this capacity to

National Defence committee  Oh, I'm sorry.

National Defence committee  Thank you very much, sir. I have had the opportunity to comment on some of these things hereto in a way that addresses exactly the same issues. There's a paradox that underlies all of this. The paradox is that there are more deaths by far caused by the automobile worldwide than

National Defence committee  I would like to make one quick point. I would say it is important to keep in mind what's happening to technology, and how fast technology is changing, both on the offensive and on the defensive side. When you do that, the action you're taking now is an action that is only going t

National Defence committee  I think this issue has existed for a very long time, and I am impressed with the way in which the two governments have dealt with it. They've said they have a difference of interests here, but they are going to try to provide the security that both of their peoples demand without

National Defence committee  I certainly think that would be a proper step, because the cyber-dimension is becoming so much more important. It is also highly sensitive and highly complicated, so how it is going to be handled internationally is still probably in the development stage. For Canada to have the c

National Defence committee  I am not in a position to say what NORAD ought or wouldn't do, but I would say that in a sense this is more and less than what NORAD is. It is less, because NORAD is concerned with other matters, such as air-breathing threats, what is happening offshore, and so on. These are ver

National Defence committee  I would say that Canada is as much a target in some of these matters as is the United States. What is really important is that this is a changing situation. This is a situation where we have governments now toying with, trying to develop or operationalize, missile capability that

National Defence committee  Well, first of all, you're not alone in having problems with silos. We have them within departments here and between departments. Of course, that's why we created Homeland Security, to try to overcome that. Even that is not perfect. Don't underestimate the degree of problems we h

National Defence committee  I would simply say that, first of all, relations are close and good, as exemplified by how things work in NORAD, but it is the case that to the extent that there is more coordination and co-operation there's going to be more participation and people will be happy about that here.

National Defence committee  Absolutely.

National Defence committee  From my perspective what is crucial is what's happening to technology. How good are the systems and what evidence do we have of this? I think the evidence is that they're getting better and better, so they're more significant as a factor in security. As far as Canada is concerne

National Defence committee  First of all, I would like to thank the members of this distinguished committee for once again inviting me to participate. If we keep doing this, eventually I may get it right. What I would like to do is not read the comments that I've submitted, but rather to make three points

National Defence committee  I'm very grateful, Mr. Chairman, that you brought up this issue of what I would call status. Status is back in international politics in a big way. Much of what Putin seems to be concerned about is status. For that reason, I would say it would be very wise for us not to stress th

National Defence committee  I think, sir, you have summarized the nature of the dilemma there. The dilemma is that we should use deterrents more effectively, but to be able to do that we have to believe in our own defence, because you have to believe in defensive capability. The problem is that the United S