Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 3rd, 2022

[Sandra McCardell]

Mr. Chair, the question of energy is an extremely important one as we look at putting in place measures that will bite into Russia. Clearly there are measures that will affect Russia. It will also have an important bounce-back on our allies in Europe. This issue was raised when Minister Joly was in Brussels and in Paris.

We're certainly aware of the situation and are very sensitive to the impact on Europeans, particularly in winter. We have discussed this with the United States. I do know that Natural Resources Canada has been looking into Canada's position in this area. I can't provide a detailed answer, but I can say that our export capacity LNG is quite limited. A first survey of the resources indicates that, being winter, much of the capacity for liquefaction is already at its top level. There certainly will need to be international coordination if we come to the point that that kind of support is required.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

It's interesting—

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Marty Morantz]

Thank you very much.

I'm sorry, Mr. Chong. Two and a half minutes goes by really quickly.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

It does. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Marty Morantz]

Mr. Oliphant, you have the last round of the day. For two and a half minutes, the floor is yours.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll begin by thanking the officials. It's no secret that at times I've been disappointed by officials coming before committee, but today I have been absolutely impressed with all your work. Thank you for your transparency, your willingness to engage and your openness to help us as a committee understand what's going on.

In my head, I have a bunch of words beginning with “d”: diplomacy, dialogue and deterrence. I want to close on defence, which is not my area.

I want to give Major-General Prévost a chance to talk about the fact that this is not a symbolic activity that we're engaged in but a very real activity, the extension of Operation Unifier, as well as to talk a bit on Operation Reassurance, which is a tandem operation in the region, ensuring stability. Canadians—maybe five, but a few Canadians—are watching our hearing today and I want you to have the chance to talk about the importance of the military work we are engaging in.

A lot of people are focused on hardware, and in fact, are fixated on it. I'm focused on training, on engagement, on the frigate that we have with NATO and on operations Reassurance and Unifier. Could you close with a brief explanation of why this is important work we're doing?

[MGen Paul Prévost]

Mr. Chair, we've talked a lot about what we do under Operation Unifier, a very important contribution from Canada, and I thank the members of the committee for inviting us today to talk about it. We're proud of the work they do, and hopefully it will help the committee and Canadians understand this.

This is a mission that has been ongoing for seven years to train over 30,000 troops in Ukraine. That training will last, and we're moving now into institution building with Ukraine as well to have lasting effects. Gender perspective is part of this. Education and democratic institutions are part of this. That's the important work we do in Operation Unifier in Ukraine.

I thank the member as well for introducing Operation Reassurance, which is the mission we do in NATO to reinforce the eastern flank of NATO. Right now, Canada is the lead in Latvia of nine nations on a very important multinational brigade called eFP Latvia, as a deterrent and reassurance in Latvia.

We also have the frigate that the members talked about. Right now, HMCS Montréal is sailing across the Atlantic to be part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. We also periodically have F-18s that provide air policing in Romania.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Marty Morantz]

I hate to interrupt, but we're quite a way beyond the two and a half minutes.

That brings our questioning to an end for this afternoon. I thank our witnesses very much. It has been a very interesting and informative afternoon.

Thank you for the information you've provided. I know it's a very sensitive situation and you've done your best to inform the committee and all those who are watching as best as you can. We can't thank you enough as a committee for that.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, quickly on a point of order, there were some requests for documents around sanctions and maybe other issues. Are you going to be able to follow up with the witnesses and report back to the committee? Do you have a sense of the time frame that would be realistic for that?

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Marty Morantz]

Thank you. I'll just defer to the clerk for that.

Madam Clerk.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Erica Pereira]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Certainly we can do that.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Marty Morantz]

Thank you very much.

If there are no other points of order, I will release our witnesses.

Thank you very much for being here and for the information you provided today. Have a great day.

I'd like the committee members to stay, though, as we do have a small bit of committee business to complete before the meeting wraps up.

[Heidi Hulan]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Marty Morantz]

You're welcome.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Mr. Chair, on a point of order, I just want to let you know that a couple of members here have flights to catch, so if we can be as efficient on this as possible in the next couple of minutes, I would appreciate that.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Marty Morantz]

I am one of those members, so I agree with you. Thank you for that.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Chair, I move the adoption of all the proposed budgets that have been sent to us.

(Motions agreed to)

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Marty Morantz]

It was a good meeting.

Everyone have a great weekend. Take care.