Foreign Affairs Committee on Sept. 25th, 2025

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier—Gloucester, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms. Fortier.

We'll next go to Monsieur Lemire.

You have the floor for six minutes.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you for welcoming me to the committee.

We know that there have been incidents in Poland and Romania. In Denmark, drones have been spotted on at least two nights. Reportedly, the perpetrator is an unknown professional operative. Denmark hasn't ruled out the possibility that Russia lies behind the attack. The prime minister called it the most serious attack on critical infrastructure in the country. She also said that it was part of a recent trend of drone attacks, airspace violations and cyberattacks against European airports.

Denmark is obviously a strategic target because it's a founding member of NATO and a gateway to western Europe from the north. First, do you think that the drones were Russian? Can we draw a connection between this incident and the other incidents currently being discussed? Second, do you think that Denmark is being directly targeted, or that NATO is being indirectly targeted?

[Eric Laporte]

I don't want to speak on behalf of the Danish authorities, who are currently responding to the situation. So far, they haven't said that the drones were Russian, but they have said that a skilled operative was behind the incident. Who are the skilled operatives in this field? There aren't many, so it might be Russia. However, I don't want to get ahead of the Danish authorities.

In terms of whether Denmark or another entity is the target, given that drone incursions have been observed all over the place, Denmark is quite possibly not the only target.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Researchers at Université Laval pointed out that Russia is trying to learn more about the alliance's actual military capabilities. According to them, “with its incursions, [Vladimir] Putin's country wants to gather military intelligence on the type of response triggered by NATO, the capabilities used, the speed of decision making, and so on.”

Do you think that Russia is testing the capabilities of this gateway or other gateways for the future?

[Eric Laporte]

As noted, this isn't the first time that Russia has sent drones or aircraft into NATO airspace. Since 2022, there have been repeated attempts to gauge NATO's responses. The alliance responds each time with appropriate measures.

Both sides are playing a game of cat and mouse, with Russia and NATO tailoring their responses to each other. On one side, we have NATO, a defensive alliance by nature, and on the other side, the Russians, who continue to enter allied territories.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

The Secretary‑General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, issued a warning about the real risk of the Ukrainian conflict spreading beyond its borders, given this latest development. Are you also concerned that this situation could spread from country to country and begin to escalate? Could it even reach our area?

[Eric Laporte]

The risk of escalation is certainly a reality. As NATO pointed out in its statement, we don't want this type of behaviour and this risk of escalation. However, at the same time, NATO is prepared to respond if necessary. If a NATO response is requested under article 5, Canada plays a role in that response through the Washington treaty.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Have you recently assessed the risk of a possible incursion into Canadian territory? Have any incursions been observed in the past few days?

[Eric Laporte]

I'm not aware of any, but I can pass the question on to my colleague, Mr. Curran.

[Ty Curran]

The simple answer is no. We haven't seen any incursions here in Canada. Last year, no one entered our air defence identification zone. This zone isn't legally part of our territory. However, together with the United States and NORAD, it's our air defence zone in Canada.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Given the recent developments in at least three allied countries, have you increased your level of vigilance and surveillance of our airspace?

[Ty Curran]

NORAD is continuing to monitor threats to Canada and the United States. I don't know the current alert level, but air and maritime incursions that pose a threat to North America are constantly monitored.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

There hasn't been any increase or decrease as a result of this situation.

[Ty Curran]

I don't have that information.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you, Mr. Lemire.

We will proceed to the second round of questioning.

I'll turn to MP Kramp-Neuman.

You have five minutes.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I have a question for any one of you. Is there any thought that this may be Russian penetration testing on Baltic states for a potential breakout of the Baltic fleet out of Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg, especially in the wake of Finland and Sweden entering NATO recently, effectively blocking the fleet from getting in?

[Eric Laporte]

It is certainly highly likely this is probing by Russia, as we know they do, have done and will continue to do. Whether this is going as far as a breakout of the Russian fleet, I haven't seen anything to that effect.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Are you aware of what assets NATO has deployed to contain the Russian Baltic fleet?

[Ty Curran]

Unfortunately, I don't have the full details of NATO's disposition. What I could perhaps say is that, following the 2014 invasion and the full-scale invasion in 2022, NATO has significantly augmented the forces that are on its eastern flank from a land, air and naval point of view. Canada has contributed to all three.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

From NATO doctrine, where is the threshold between that of an incursion and an act of aggression?

[Eric Laporte]

Incursions into airspace, as I mentioned a little bit earlier, have happened a number of times since 2014. Recently the quality, length, duration and number of drones coming in has increased significantly. That said, there's a difference between a drone overflying airspace, going from point A to point B through NATO airspace into Ukraine, for example, and loitering. These are not conducting attacks per se. Most of the time, they can either be decoy drones or reconnaissance drones. Then there's a cost-benefit calculation or an escalatory calculation that is made by commanders on the ground or in the air as to whether to shoot them down or not in terms of where it is over civilian infrastructure and the cost of the missile you need to shoot this thing down, or to just let it go.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Could you speak to the current status of Canada's anti-drone capacities? Are there any current procurement projects happening?

[Ty Curran]

Yes, we have made investments to provide both counter-air and counter-drone capabilities, particularly for our forces deployed in Latvia. These are also areas that will be part of the investment made under the increases for defence spending.