Evidence of meeting #37 for National Defence in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was training.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins
In that we augment the navy, I believe we are contributing to the broad spectrum of the national defence continental defence role just by virtue of how we augment the navy in its various roles.
Reservists are also working in the MSOCs, the marine security operations centres, so they are contributing to the whole-of-government defence and security picture as well.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
That's your time. Sorry.
That ends our formal, structured, time-allocated questions. Other people around the table also want to continue to speak, so I'm going to give them the opportunity. I'll go to five-minute questions.
I'll start with the Liberals, then I'll go to the Conservatives, and then I'll circle back to you, Ms. Blaney, to make sure everyone gets a chance.
The person who got my attention was Mr. Spengemann. Sven, you have the floor.
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I may not even need the five minutes, so I'll be happy to delegate it to another Liberal speaker.
I have a couple of discreet questions. My apologies if they appear a bit disjunctive. They're just cleanup questions in my mind.
Is there a Canada-U.S. relationship that's naval reserve to naval reserve, or is it strictly navy to navy?
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
There are no separate networks, even informal, between the two units, operationally or otherwise?
Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins
No, not with the Americans. However, there are NATO connections—not specifically navy, but at the chief reserve level.
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
Is Canada's submarine deployment opportunity, to the extent that it's alive and well, available to reservists?
Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins
Not at this time. Traditionally, the level of training they have to do to qualify to become a submariner and to retain those skills has not been available to reservists. There's no plan at this time to change that.
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
It hasn't been the case for some time. Was it ever, in the past?
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
You mentioned NATO. Are there opportunities for Canadian naval reservists to participate in NATO work, be that at headquarters or in planning and operations?
Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins
Yes, there are. Canadian naval reservists support NATO missions indirectly, obviously, and an example right now is that of the reservists sailing in HMCS St. John's. More directly, they can also be in support of some of the NATO reserve working groups as well. For example, our chief of reserves will be leading a study in NATO for pre-deployment best practices of reservists. That's an ongoing engagement.
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
That's helpful. Thank you for that.
On the gender and diversity work you mentioned, is that your own or is that the navy's? Do you have room to design or augment your own work to make sure you achieve gender balance or diversity to the extent that you've targeted within recruitment?
Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins
It's from the Canadian Armed Forces all the way down. There are initiatives that we're doing at every level within the Canadian Armed Forces.
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
They're Canadian Forces initiatives, then, not Royal Canadian Navy Reserve initiatives. Do you have room to augment, to change to—
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
In terms of targets, in terms of how you go about achieving diversity both on the gender side and in terms of cultural distribution across Canada, can you do more than what the navy is asking?
Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins
We're certainly not being constrained. If we have opportunities at the local level to reach out more to cultural communities, absolutely....
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
I have a quick question on the bifurcation between officers and non-commissioned personnel. When you go to university campuses and recruit, are you recruiting with the mindset of recruiting officers, or not necessarily?
Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins
I think we're going with the mindset that there's a whole spectrum of great employment, and officers typically have to be degreed or at least students who are in a degree program. It's certainly not exclusive. It's whatever type of work challenge will appeal to an individual.
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
Is it fair to ask you about the number of unfilled officer positions at the moment? Is there such a statistic, or is it simply part of the overall aspiration to grow? What I'm getting at is, where are your needs greater, on the officer side or on the non-commissioned officer side?
Cmdre Marta B. Mulkins
It's probably weighted evenly across the board. Some occupations are full and some are not, both in the officer cadres and in the non-commissioned members cadres.
Liberal
Sven Spengemann Liberal Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON
Mr. Chair, I have about a minute and a half, and I'd like to delegate it.
