Thanks, sir.
As the commander of Canadian Forces information operations group, I'm responsible for operating the foreign signals intelligence program in the Canadian Armed Forces.
I'll give you a bit of background.
Signals intelligence includes the technical intelligence or information we get from communication systems, information technology systems, networks, and the data therein. It includes electronic intelligence from electromagnetic non-communications emissions such as those from radars, for example, and it includes what we call foreign instrumentation signals intelligence from machine-to-machine communications, like telemetry from a missile to its ground station, or from a drone to its controller.
Why is that important? Canadian Forces Station Alert is at the far northeastern tip of Ellesmere Island in Nunavut. In latitude and longitude it is 82° 30' N / 62° 19' W, or in distance only 817 kilometres from the North Pole. To give you another reference, from here it's twice as far to Alert at 4,151 kilometres as it is to Iqaluit, which is only 2,090 kilometres away. So Alert is way up there.
Alert is a site from which we collect foreign signals intelligence, foreign signals of interest, in support of Canadian military operations.
For over 40 years, beginning in 1956, we had service personnel who collected these signals, processed and exploited them there on the site, and then disseminated that intelligence back to the Canadian Forces from there.
We still must collect foreign signals of interest at Canadian Forces Station Alert because of its unique geographic location, but with improvements in electronic signal processing and communication technology, we can send the raw signals back to southern Canada now for processing and analysis.
As a result, in 1997 we reduced the number of signals intelligence personnel permanently on station at Alert from over 250 to now fewer than 10 technicians. As the majority of issues at Canadian Forces Station Alert now relate to logistical support, in 2009 the Royal Canadian Air Force took over command of the station. I believe a witness from the air force at Alert will be here in a couple of weeks.
The signals intelligence capability, which is provided by what we call our uniquely advantageous location at Canadian Forces Station Alert, contributes to the defence of North America by providing an important intelligence input to the Canadian Armed Forces and to our binational North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD.
Our signals intelligence systems at Canadian Forces Station Alert, along with similar systems at Gander in Newfoundland and Masset in British Columbia, can also contribute to search and rescue and other domestic operations by effectively looking backwards into Canada to help locate radio signals from ships or aircraft in distress.
When tasked for search and rescue, the three stations can search for high-frequency radio signals, which come from the types of equipment that airplanes and ships normally use for long-range communications, and determine their direction of origin. The intersection of the three lines of bearing from the three stations will give you a good idea of the location of that transmission.
The three roles of Canadian Forces Station Alert are signals intelligence; sovereignty, because we're there; and science, because Environment Canada is there. We also support scientific experiments. These roles are complementary and with goodwill and cooperation by all the parties involved, are mutually supportive.
From the signals intelligence perspective, from my perspective, Canadian Forces Station Alert is a vital asset and will continue to be so for the long term.