Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, and thank you to the committee for the opportunity to represent the Navy League of Canada at today's committee meeting discussing the Royal Canadian Navy and naval readiness. I sincerely regret I did not have time to submit my opening remarks in advance. However, I have failed at retirement, and last week was a particularly challenging week. In my day job people would actually pay me and expect me to do stuff.
As background, I retired four years ago after over 36 years of service as a seagoing officer, including command of three warships, appointments as a senior Canadian officer at NATO's naval headquarters in the U.K., and as an attaché in both London and Copenhagen. However, I'm here today as the vice-president of maritime affairs for the Navy League of Canada, a volunteer position I have held for almost three years.
The Navy League of Canada was established in 1895. Its objective was to promote an interest in maritime affairs, and it was one of the key voices that led to the creation of Canada's navy in 1910.
Today the Navy League of Canada's primary focus is its two cadet programs that benefit over 10,000 young Canadians in over 260 communities across the country, but we also maintain our maritime affairs mandate to promote Canada's maritime interests, hence, my appearance here today.
In my remarks today I would like to make the following three points, all of which I believe are interrelated.
The first one is what the concept of readiness actually means in terms of generating naval forces that are able to do what the government asks them to do.
Second is the view that Canada is a maritime nation, and what that means in terms of the navy's role.
Finally, as work progresses towards the future fleet, the Navy League believes that flexibility with respect to capability is the crucial enabler to overall readiness, in other words, the RCN's ability to deploy at short notice to defend Canada and Canadian interests.
Readiness is multifaceted, but it really boils down to having a fleet that is capable of deploying at short notice, in some cases measured in hours, to bring meaningful effect to any given task as assigned by the Government of Canada. It encompasses personnel, material, technical, and combat readiness.
This can range from the traditional ready duty ship sailing literally within hours to conduct a search and rescue operation or to support other government departments in enforcing Canadian laws.
It can also include deploying within days to provide humanitarian assistance or disaster relief, in effect only as long as it takes to sort out the broad scope of the mission, and then load the ship with appropriate supplies.
Readiness also means combat-ready ships forward deployed around the world working in NATO task groups or with our other partners and allies, and it also means the capability to deploy a naval task group with as little as 10 days' notice in support of a host of complex operations.
In the first instance, readiness means having a capable, balanced, and flexible fleet of ships, submarines, and aircraft as well as effective, shore-based facilities from which to base them.
And once you have those capabilities, you then have to maintain them. Warships, submarines, and aircraft are highly complicated systems, and they work in hostile environmental conditions. In staff colleges you often hear the statement that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, which I believe is true, but the naval upshot to that is nothing survives in salt water. Proper maintenance means having the industrial base both in-house and commercially to be able to work on these intricate machines as well as having adequate spares on hand and an established supply chain that can meet demands.
And, of course, there's education and training for the ship's companies that operate these platforms. There's a saying the sea trainers are fond of using that goes, “Everything we do at sea is completely safe until we forget how utterly dangerous it is.” The only way one can mitigate those risks is by having competent crews. That competence is achieved through demanding and thorough individual training; refresher training; team training; all-ship training through challenging work-up programs; and multi-ship training exercises, both national and multinational.
As an aside, I wanted to pick up on something Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd said a few months back about these multinational exercises that are not only essential to generating readiness, but more importantly, they are fundamental to holding alliances together, demonstrating group resolve to destabilizing developments, while confirming the RCN's ability to be interoperable and share information, logistical support, and intelligence. They are, in many respects, the lifeblood of an armed service that pays dividends, whether pursuing a national objective, deploying with the alliance, or building capacities with regional partners.
I would now like to move on to the concept of Canada as a maritime nation. Canada is bounded by three oceans, with the world's largest coastline, the second-largest continental shelf, and the fifth-largest exclusive economic zone. And as a trading nation, we are, I think it is fair to say, dependent on the oceans. That means that Canada is by definition a maritime nation, although it seems some do not appreciate that and what it means in terms of capability.
The potential challenges to national security that exist as a result of that dependence are convoluted. As a consequence, we have not always equipped our naval forces accordingly.
A properly equipped navy at the right degree of readiness is inherently flexible. It provides the government with a range of policy options across the spectrum of conflict from diplomacy to humanitarian operations to constabulary operations to the often-complicated world of peace support operations and all the way to war-fighting if necessary.
The Navy League believes that a balanced, multi-purpose, and combat-capable fleet is the key to that flexibility. The navy must be able to protect Canadian sovereignty and interests, whether in domestic situations, forward-deployed operations, or the plethora of contingency operations we find ourselves in today.
The RCN has been busy for pretty much as long as I can remember, from my early days as a Cold Warrior to commanding a frigate in the Arabian Gulf during hostilities in 2003. That was an amazing experience, by the way. I will never forget the privilege of leading some 240 of the most remarkable and courageous Canadians in what was, in every respect, a mission with uncertain outcomes.
The success of that mission was a perfect example of flexibility and why readiness matters whether in conducting escort operations in the Strait of Hormuz or conducting maritime interdiction and boarding operations in the broader Gulf region or saving the life of a horribly burned Iraqi merchant sailor just north of Dubai.
In fact, at the time, Admiral Robertson was my fleet commander, and he had just returned from the Gulf region having served as the first commander of the Canadian task group that deployed immediately after the attacks on New York and Washington.
While one could argue that the Cold War threat of nuclear annihilation kept the stakes comparatively high, it is my opinion that Canadian naval operations over the past 20 years or so have become increasingly more complex and more dangerous, just as the post-Cold War world has become more complex and more dangerous. The navy has always been up to the task; it just hasn't always been that good at telling its story to the broader audience.
Taking part in diverse deployments in support of the international campaign against terrorism, conducting counter-drug operations, providing protection for the World Food Programme, and addressing the menace of modern-day pirates off the coast of Somalia are all examples of what Canada's navy has been up to recently, and all demonstrate the value of having a standing fleet at an appropriate level of readiness. Of course those missions continue today, with Canadian ships forward-deployed with NATO and other allies to promote regional stability and security.
Given their ability to sail on very short notice, navies can also be leveraged to effect in support of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The RCN has frequently been at the forefront of these operations over the years.
A few of the many examples are the 1998 search-and-recovery operation in response to the crash of Swissair Flight 111 into the sea near Halifax, and the 2010 deployment to provide relief to earthquake-stricken Haiti. However, our ships are not necessarily best equipped for that role.
In that respect, the Navy League believes that ships like the Royal Netherlands Navy's Rotterdam and Karel Doorman classes or the U.K. Royal Fleet Auxiliary's Bay class, or the Royal Danish Navy's Absalon class have been used to meaningful effect in a variety of operations from humanitarian and disaster relief to supporting operations ashore.
The Navy League believes that such a capability would significantly add to the flexibility and the overall readiness of the RCN, but, this should not come at the expense of combat-capable frigate-type ships, which have consistently and frequently proven their utility in more challenging operations.
We are concerned, however, with the steady erosion of the fleet, in terms of both capabilities and numbers, notwithstanding the fact that the ships we have left are first class by any measure, particularly after the Halifax class modernization program. It seems that just as the number and complexity of operations involving naval forces, such as multi-functional and multinational operations conducted in support of UN mandates, are increasing, Canada's ability to deal with them is waning as a result of reduced capacity.
In conclusion, we often hear the phrase “the world needs more Canada." As someone who has served abroad with allies and partners, I have seen first-hand how Canadian Forces always excel when working and leading in a collective international environment, but we get credit only if we show up.
As Dr. Jim Boutilier quipped at the recent Maritime Security Challenges conference in Victoria, if you want to be seen, you need to be seen.
The Navy League of Canada believes that the readiness of our navy is predicated on having a flexible fleet based on the right numbers and types of ships, with the right support networks and well-trained and experienced sailors and aviators who are provided with the right level of support. We are optimistic that the national shipbuilding strategy will deliver the fleet Canada needs. It has the potential to rejuvenate the fleet and the Canadian industrial base that supports it.
Finally, as many of you may be aware, next Tuesday is Navy Day on Parliament Hill. This event is coordinated by the Navy League of Canada, and brings together government, the RCN, the Canadian Coast Guard, the Maritime Affairs Alliance, and the exceptional sailors program. We look forward to seeing you there.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.