National Defence Committee on April 27th, 2009

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

So I believe you say, “We are currently leading the technical implementation” of that system. Does that mean it's your program?

[George Da Pont]

Well, we're leading it in the sense that a couple of our coast guard experts have taken a leadership role in chairing the working group under the International Maritime Organization, which is developing the system and the various protocols that go with the system.

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

I guess what I'm getting at here is, suppose we decide that it will no longer be voluntary but “mandatory”, who will be the policeman, if not necessarily the enforcer? Will it be the coast guard that identifies people who are not in compliance? If we are going to have that kind of capability, is it going to be the coast guard that's responsible for this program—or has that not been decided yet? Or is it something the coast guard would see itself undertaking as part of maritime security?

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

You have 15 seconds to answer the question.

[George Da Pont]

We have a shared role in that. Transport Canada sets out the regulatory structure within which it takes place. The coast guard is the operations group, taking the information and relaying it to the appropriate bodies, be they Transport Canada or the maritime security operations centres. If there's then a desire to take action, and the need to take action, that would be streamed to whatever department or agency had the lead role for whatever the issue was, and the coast guard may or may not be asked to support that department.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Thank you, Mr. Da Pont.

It is now Mr. Blaney's turn.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, witnesses, for your comments that are very relevant to our study, both on land and on sea. I have several questions, but before I begin, I would like to underline the presence of the coast guard in Quebec City, where it presented an exhibition last year to mark, among other things, Captain Bernier's claim of the Arctic archipelago for Canada. We can see that the history of the coast guard is closely linked to Canadian sovereignty.

We used to think that the North-West passage would take 20, 30 or 40 years to open. Now it looks like it will be open in 2011 or 2012, so it is clear that you will play a much more important role in the Far North.

My first question—and it's not because there is a fine shipyard in my riding—is this: can you tell me about the state of your fleet? There is, of course, the John G. Diefenbaker, which should be ready in 2017, but there are also a number of smaller vessels. Can you tell me briefly about the state of the fleet in general, your expectations in coming decades and perhaps also the operating costs linked to the upkeep of these vessels?

[George Da Pont]

Thank you. I will begin and my colleague may wish to add a few words. The coast guard has 40 large vessels. Many of them have been around for some time, but are still capable of carrying out the necessary tasks. In the past three or four budgets, the government announced an investment of $1.4 billion to replace 12 of these ships and to add 5 others. We have thus already begun to replace part of the fleet. This will certainly take some time. We are now commencing a process to obtain 12 ships, and I can't go into detail, because the process is underway. What will take the longest will be the replacement of the Louis S. St-Laurent. We have begun the process and we hope that it will be replaced by 2017.

Mr. Grenier, do you have any comments to add?

[René Grenier]

Just to say that the Louis S. St-Laurent is definitely the oldest vessel and that it must be replaced, and that is what we will do. The other icebreakers, although they are fairly old, are still in fairly good condition. I'm talking about the R class and the Henry Larsen.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

You talked about a monitoring tool, namely, the Long Range Identification and Tracking System. You stated that this system would be used for vessels weighing over 300 tonnes. If I understood correctly, this involves satellite identification, and therefore is not voluntary. As concerns security and sovereignty, is there a problem given the fact that this system does not monitor small vessels weighing less than 300 tonnes?

[René Grenier]

Concerning the LRIT, this is a global system sponsored by the IMO whereby all ships weighing 300 tonnes or more—and these are not small ships, they are large ships—must report via Inmarsat, which is a satellite system. In the Arctic, they will report to the North. This year, we will be installing different systems on three of our icebreakers, given the presence of the polar constellation of Iridium satellites. We will try to capture other types of signals to ensure that we receive them all. So I would say that as concerns the vast majority of vessels of a certain tonnage, that is, 300 tonnes or more, we should be able to track their location. In general, every six hours, the vessel sends a message to indicate its position.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Perfect. I will perhaps come back to that if I have any time left.

I would like to direct this question to the Department of Indian Affairs. Of course, you have a number of strategies in your four-point plan, but have you assessed the impact of climate change on the costs for communities, especially aboriginal communities, for example, airport landing strips and building safety? Have you studied this topic?

[Danielle Labonté]

No, not in our department. The Department of the Environment or of Natural Resources have perhaps taken initiatives, but I am not aware of them.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Okay.

I will come back to the coast guard.

I would like to know what proportion of your resources is allocated respectively to your activities in the Far North and to your activities in the south?

[George Da Pont]

I was afraid someone was going to ask me that question, because I don't really have the detailed response. We do not keep statistics by region. However, if you wish, we could do some research and get back to you with that information shortly.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Do you think that your role will expand due to increased transportation in the North and resource harvesting?

[George Da Pont]

Yes, certainly. Given that we now arrive in the region one or two weeks earlier and stay later, we have had the opportunity to observe this type of change. As I mentioned, we have already received investments to address environmental issues. I imagine that we will continue along that path.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maxime Bernier]

Thank you, Mr. Blaney.

Mr. Coderre.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Labonté, I would like to come back to the questions asked by my colleague Mr. Wilfert concerning Tromso. I heard that the Canadian government will soon be announcing, in the next few days in fact, the opening of an Arctic office in Oslo. Two senior officials and three administrative staff members are to be assigned there. Is that correct?

[Danielle Labonté]

I am aware of that project, but I don't know the details on the staffing.

[John Kozij]

No, I don't have that kind of detail either, but I understand that DFAIT are coming before you, are they not?

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Yes, and I'll ask the question of them afterwards, but since you're the leader, I'd like to know.

So do you confirm that there will be a...?

It's just that I don't understand the rationale for an Arctic office in Olso, Norway. So it is going to happen?

[Danielle Labonté]

Yes, it's been underway for some time. I am sure that you will hear about it later this week. I believe that the main objective is to ensure better coordination with European countries and to make them more aware of the Canadian reality in the Arctic.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

So an office is Olso is going to help raise awareness?

[Danielle Labonté]

Yes.