National Defence Committee on May 10th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Good morning everyone. I would like to welcome our guests, Lieutenant General Stephen Bowes and Brigadier-General Mike Nixon. Thank you very much for coming to committee today. We have a lot to pack in this morning. However, before I give you the floor for your opening comments, I believe we have a point of order from Mr. Garrison.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

All of you know that due to travel arrangements and commitments, I missed last Thursday's meeting, but the member for North Island—Powell River was here and brought to my attention something that happened at the meeting, which I find quite disturbing. It was something that happened a lot in the last Parliament. We had not seen it yet in this Parliament. It was an attack on one of our witnesses and their credibility by Ms. Gallant.

I think witnesses who appear here at our invitation should expect tough questions, but they should expect fair questions. Therefore, I would like to give Ms. Gallant a chance to apologize on the record for her remarks about the Rideau Institute and its funding, which were completely spurious.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I think my questions were perfectly in line. For one to know how an organization is being funded may reflect upon the way in which they are promoting, especially our defence. If there are outside interests, it is important for the committee to know that it is not just Canadians who are paying for the institution to go forth.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Mr. Garrison.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am disappointed that rather than taking the opportunity to apologize for something that was quite obviously based on a drop-down menu on a website, which even Ms. Gallant's constituency association shares, she has essentially repeated the same attack on our witness. I'm very disappointed.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

We'll consider that matter closed. It's on the record.

I would like to continue with the meeting.

General Bowes, I believe you're speaking on behalf of both parties?

[Lieutenant-General Stephen Bowes, Commander, Canadian Joint Operations Command, Department of National Defence]

Yes, I am.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Sir, you have the floor for 10 minutes.

[LGen Stephen Bowes]

Mr. Chair and committee members, good morning. My name is Lieutenant-General Steve Bowes, and it is my pleasure to be here today to discuss Canadian Armed Forces' operations and activities in the Arctic.

I am accompanied by Brigadier-General Mike Nixon, who is the commander of Joint Task Force North, which is responsible for the planning and conduct of operations in the north, including the Arctic.

As you know, Canada's Arctic region is immense. It comprises some 40% of Canada's overall land mass, and 75% of its coastline. Its size, combined with its austere climate and conditions, present a complex environment in which the Canadian Armed Forces must be prepared to operate at any time.

To give you a sense of the challenge, General Nixon's area of operations spans four time zones, with harsh terrain, limited daylight, and poor weather conditions for much of the year, with time and space posing a significant challenge in providing a response.

The Canadian Arctic is expected to experience an increase in overall activity in the coming years due to developments in areas such as natural resource exploitation, adventure activities and maritime traffic; this in turn would likely give rise to new requirements for support from the Canadian Armed Forces, such as search and rescue and supporting civilian authorities in consequence management.

The Canadian Armed Forces make a vital contribution to the fulfilment of Government of Canada priorities in the Arctic. Our tasks include demonstrating a visible presence to exercise sovereignty, conducting surveillance and control of Canadian territory and approaches, carrying out search and rescue operations, and providing assistance to government partners when called upon.

As confirmed in the Prime Minister mandate letter to the Minister of National Defence, the Arctic remains a Government of Canada priority. The specific roles and activities of the Canadian Armed Forces in the Arctic are, however, being examined as part of the ongoing defence policy review.

As commander of the Canadian Joint Operations Command, I'm responsible for exercising command and control of all Canadian Armed Forces operations, including those in the Arctic. Those are two very important categories, NORAD and Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.

The Canadian Armed Forces maintains a presence and can bring to bear specific capabilities in order to operate in the north. As I already mentioned, Joint Task Force North, under General Nixon's command, is based in Yellowknife, with detachments in Whitehorse and Iqaluit, as one of six regional task forces under the umbrella or our Joint Operations Command.

Joint Task Force North is responsible for conducting routine and contingency operations in the north and also for the development of the Canadian rangers and Junior rangers programs in the north. Joint Task Force North also liaises with the territorial, municipal, and indigenous governments in order to prepare for rapid and effective responses to emergencies.

The Canadian rangers are a subcomponent of the Canadian Armed Forces reserve. They play a central role in the Canadian Armed Forces tasked to demonstrate visible presence and exercise Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic. The Canadian rangers are currently approximately 5,000 strong in remote locations across Canada, including about 1,700 with 1 Ranger Patrol Group, which is responsible for the Canadian north. Rangers possess unique skills, local knowledge, and expertise that allow them to carry out a wide array of tasks as part of their regular duties, including search and rescue, north warning site patrols, community evacuations, and flood and fire watch. The Canadian rangers are truly the eyes, ears, and voice of the Canadian Armed Forces throughout Canada's north. As such, they also report on both routine and extraordinary activities, such as the presence of suspicious vessels.

The Canadian Armed Forces Arctic training centre, in Resolute Bay, operated in partnership with Natural Resources Canada, provides a facility capable of supporting individual and collective Arctic cold weather training. The training centre, which can accommodate about 140 personnel, also has the capability to serve as a forward operating base if needed.

The Canadian Forces station Alert, under the command of the RCAF, the Royal Canadian Armed Forces, is a signals intelligence facility designed primarily to provide situational awareness in support of military operations. It also possesses a geo-location capability that can assist with search and rescue missions, as well as support to research conducted by other government departments in the Arctic. You will have already heard about other capabilities National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces can leverage in support of its Arctic activities, such as the north warning system and NORAD's forward operating locations in the north.

In terms of operations, the Canadian Armed Forces conduct three major operations each year, which generally take place in the high, western, and eastern Arctic: Operation Nanook, Operation Nunalivut, and Operation Nunakput. Operation Nanook is the Canadian Armed Forces' largest annual exercise, which integrates participation from the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force, as well as whole-of-government partners. The main effort of Operation Nanook 2016 will focus on a response to an earthquake event in the Yukon territory, with a defence scenario being conducted in vicinity of Rankin Inlet in Nunavut.

Notably, Op NANOOK 15 included a firefighting scenario in which Canadian Armed Forces operated with federal, territorial and municipal agencies in response to a simulated wildfire in the town of Fort Smith.

That has underscored how these training scenarios help prepare our forces for real-world events, as Canadian Armed Forces have deployed to support the current response to the wildfire in the Fort McMurray area.

Operation Nunalivut is a sovereignty-based exercise that employs southern-based Canadian Armed Forces elements as well as the Canadian rangers in High Arctic operations in the challenging period of late winter.

Finally, Operation Nunakput takes place in the western Arctic each summer to exercise sovereignty and interoperability with our RCMP, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Coast Guard partners.

In addition to these flagship exercises, the Canadian Armed Forces continues to train through a series of cold-weather, resupply, maintenance, and surveillance exercises each year to ensure that we are ready and have the necessary situational awareness to operate in the Arctic environment.

To support the execution of these operations, and to synchronize and coordinate Canadian Armed Forces activities in the region overall, the Canadian Joint Operations Command has developed a plan for the North. This is a five-year plan which incorporates our operational activities with associated infrastructure and capability requirements as well as engagement with whole-of-government and international partners. The current plan looks out to the year 2020.

Finally, as you will have heard throughout my remarks, the Canadian Armed Forces works in close co-operation with other federal, provincial, territorial, municipal, and indigenous government partners as well as our regional allies to ensure we are delivering on the government's commitments and priorities in the Arctic. For the Armed Forces, that can range from support to consequence management in the north to providing support in response to a major disaster.

That co-operation also extends beyond Canada's borders, as Canada has a number of bilateral arrangements for co-operation in the Arctic. For example, the Tri-Command Arctic Framework lays out a roadmap for enhancing military co-operation for defence, security and safety operations in the Arctic with the United States. Canada also co-operates with the Arctic states on search and rescue activities in the Arctic.

In conclusion, the armed forces continue to work closely alongside a wide range of partners to deliver Canada's needs and objectives in the Arctic.

Thank you for inviting me to appear here today. I'm pleased to respond to any questions you may have.

I'd just like to terminate my opening remarks by saying that today we have teams in the west with the folks in Fort McMurray. I can tell you how impressed I am in monitoring, from a distance, not just our team, but also the Government of Alberta; emergency response staff; firefighters—structural and wildlife—from all over the region; the RCMP from K Division, and the manner in which they've responded; volunteer organizations and the manner in which they've responded; and even the Canadian Red Cross, that organization that we've come to rely on in the most desperate of times; and Canadians, who have rallied to this with a sense of community that is truly inspiring.

Thank you. I'll answer any questions that you may have.

I brought in General Nixon. We have a regional task force structure with six joint task forces, and his focus is the north.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Thank you very much for your comments, General Bowes.

I would like to turn the floor over to Mr. Rioux. You have the floor for seven minutes.

I would just like to remind the committee to try to focus its questions on the task at hand. There's lots to talk about in the north—I understand that—but sticking to the north as it relates to aerial readiness would be appreciated.

[Jean Rioux, Liberal, Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My thanks to the witnesses for being here today.

On the environmental front, we know that global warming will bring about tremendous changes in the Arctic. As a result, this region will become more attractive. Will that have an impact on maintaining the sovereignty of our territory?

I have a few other subquestions for you. In terms of the military bases, do you think that this will lead to changes or relocation? You have an action plan until 2020. Will there be a relocation, considering the new context or the new environment created by global warming?

[LGen Stephen Bowes]

First to understand the question, we're always evolving the threats and the situation in the Arctic, as we are with any part of the world. As the situation unfolds, we adapt. We make recommendations to the Chief of the Defence Staff. If it requires new resources, he takes that information forward as military advice to the government and engages the force developers, which means primarily the services. That situation can evolve.

For the situation we have at hand, the balance between NORAD's mandate.... You've heard General St-Amand testify here, and I understand that you spent a couple of days down in Colorado Springs, so you have a pretty sound understanding of what NORAD does, what its missions are, and what its force posture is toward the protection of the continent.

Within the context, we have the resources we need to exercise surveillance from a CJOC perspective in the north today. There are always challenges in the future, and we need to be postured towards thinking about the future.

[Jean Rioux, Liberal, Saint-Jean, QC]

I will go back to global warming more specifically.

The Arctic will be more attractive, in terms of the various resources, such as fish, metals, and so on. In addition, we need to have control over the region.

In your view, what does that mean in terms of threats to Canada's sovereignty in the short and medium term?

[LGen Stephen Bowes]

We don't recognize at the moment the existence of a direct military threat to the Arctic. In the context of looking at Canadian sovereignty, we would look at it from the perspective that the Department of National Defence is not the lead ministry with regard to the whole-of-government team in the Arctic; there are many other players. That question, then. needs to be addressed at multiple levels across government to get an understanding of what environmental change is going to bring to the north.

I would point out that capabilities we're bringing on-line, such as the Arctic offshore patrol vessel and the establishment of the facility in Nanisivik, will give the Canadian Forces a greater posture in the north going forward, just as at the same time, as part of the plan for the north, we're building operational support hubs to be able to facilitate operations, should we be required to do so.

In terms of consequence management, however, really our focus is on our ability to respond to and reinforce other government departments who have the lead in responding to contingencies.

General Nixon?

[Brigadier-General Mike Nixon, Commander, Joint Task Force North, Department of National Defence]

As we have seen already in the short term, traffic in the north—adventurers, people with a desire to trek their way to the geographic or the magnetic North Pole—has been increasing over the last few decades as technology has enabled people to be able to conduct such undertakings.

In the long term, the effects of global warming on manoeuverability in the north is going to be extremely gradual. A good example would be the multi-year ice that breaks off from the polar ice cap and then clogs up some of the transitways. It has, in some cases, a more negative effect than positive effect on transit in opening the sea, at least for the foreseeable future.

Having said that, we will see more people in the north, whether it be adventurers, or folks conducting exploration for resources. As General Bowes has mentioned, it's not a question of Defence, but a question of whole-of-government input and control.

[Jean Rioux, Liberal, Saint-Jean, QC]

Could this movement, and the interest in the Arctic lead to challenges to our sovereignty and borders?

[BGen Mike Nixon]

I would say not, assuming that individuals who do transit through the north have done so from a legal perspective—as they all do—and haven't just shown up. There's rarely a case where no one contacts Canada Border Services before entering sovereign Canadian territory. It is part of our country, including most of the waterways.

[Jean Rioux, Liberal, Saint-Jean, QC]

My understanding is that you are not seeing any threats to our borders in the Arctic. With the climate change, you don't expect our borders to be challenged. Our borders in the Arctic seem to be clearly established at an international level.

[BGen Mike Nixon]

No, there are no threats. We are expecting more activity, but not threats.

[LGen Stephen Bowes]

No military threats.

For the longer term, other departments—with the changing climate and the drive for resources by nations that aren't even part of the Arctic Council—may see players such as western Pacific nations have a greater presence in the north. However, Global Affairs Canada and others are better positioned to answer those questions, but from a military perspective there's nothing foreseen at this time.

[Jean Rioux, Liberal, Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am prepared to share the rest of my speaking time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Thanks for the responses.

I'm going to give the floor to Mr. Paul-Hus for seven minutes.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good morning, General Bowes.

I would like to understand the relationship between the Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC) and the U.S. Northern Command. You are the one in charge of maintaining the relationship with the U.S. Northern Command.

In your view, are the Canadian Armed Forces meeting the U.S. Northern Command's expectations from a strategic and tactical standpoint?

[LGen Stephen Bowes]

That's a great question, so thank you.

NORAD is responsible for air defence, aerospace defence, and it is responsible for maritime warning. A few years ago, North Command was stood up and added to the NORAD command structure. From a Canadian perspective. With Lieutenant-General St-Amand as the deputy commander there and the more than 50 years of successful history in working that binational relationship towards our collective defence of North America, we see NORAD as a great success.

NORTHCOM is still a new organization, much like CJOC, as a post 9/11 entity, if you will, just as CEFCOM, Canada Command, and CANSOFCOM were stood up in 2005-06 period, and with the CJOC merger just a few years ago.

As for the rules of organization, looking at it today is only good as a snapshot in time. For today's construct, I have no concerns about the relationship and would say that we're meeting the expectations of our respective governments and our respective bosses, noting that the change of command is different and noting that in the American context it's sometimes very difficult for American leaders to understand how Canada works. Given the size, scale, and scope of the United States, it's not easy for them, whether it's Canada or other nations, to understand how other organizations work.

The thing is, we're always looking at evolving our relationship to say that we have a responsibility as learning organizations. For every activity we do—everything, every operation, every exercise we run—we run an after-action review process. We compile lists of lessons identified. We try to develop processes and people responsible for ensuring that those become lessons learned, and we try to evolve.

We're also looking at circumstances and at how things might change, not just at what's going on today. In Operation Nanook, we'll have an earthquake scenario in the Yukon, and we'll use that to test. It's no different from using the forest fire in Fort Smith last year as an example to test our needs on a domestic basis.

As we look at the context of the world today and the threats toward North America—or the challenges—and then towards Canada, we're always asking ourselves where we are going to be five years and ten years from now. I think those are really good questions. A lot of them are about strategic political intent. Internally, we'll have that very good process after we run an exercise. As an example, with Vigilant Shield in the fall, with NORAD and NORTHCOM, we would be engaged in a process and asking how we could make it better, in that we responded to the crisis that was painted in the scenario of today, but how would it be tomorrow if the following things were different...?

That's what's going to generate a lot of very good and healthy professional dialogue. I gain a sense that you've seen that. We need to be mindful that we can't stand pat. We need to be aggressive in our thinking and we need to be looking to how we can make things better.

I offer that. I know your question is a teaser. There's something else that's in behind there.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!