Perfect. Thank you.
Evidence of meeting #7 for National Defence in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was quebec.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #7 for National Defence in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was quebec.
A recording is available from Parliament.
2:20 p.m.
Col Scott Malcolm
I'll have to speak to that in my current role as deputy surgeon general.
Back in March during the first wave, in an effort to respect the public health measures put in place by each of the provinces, the Canadian Armed Forces took a very disciplined role to cease operations in moving and training candidates from across the country so as to avoid becoming a vector. It certainly did slow down our training operations at that time.
We continue now respecting.... With the new information we have about the virus and adhering to public health measures, we will be restarting the training machine as of this fall. While we do have some catch-up to do, we have a plan in place to move that along.
In terms of our current preparedness for wave two, we stand ready to assist as requested by the Government of Canada.
2:20 p.m.
Liberal
2:20 p.m.
NDP
Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for being with us today. I apologize, as I had responsibilities in the House of Commons that prevented me from joining earlier, but I know that MP Rachel Blaney did a good job.
I want to start with a question for Colonel Malcolm and/or Major Martin, and I apologize if it overlaps in any way. I did hear part of your responses earlier.
Given the lessons we've learned and the current spikes in COVID-19 that we're seeing, do you feel there's a danger, especially in Ontario and Quebec, that the Canadian Forces might have to be called upon again to provide assistance in long-term care homes?
2:20 p.m.
Col Scott Malcolm
I will take that.
We are seeing right now that we have members deployed to support the long-term care facility in northern Manitoba, so it certainly remains top of mind for the Canadian Armed Forces. We have our teams prepared and ready to go, much as they were in wave one, should additional asks of that nature come from the provinces.
2:20 p.m.
NDP
Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC
Are there differences, given the lessons you've learned, in how you'll approach intervening, say, in Manitoba now, or if you had to go back into homes in Ontario and Quebec?
2:20 p.m.
Col Scott Malcolm
Perhaps I'll ask Major Martin, who has that coal face experience, to speak to what we've learned from our experiences there.
Major Martin.
2:20 p.m.
Maj Karoline Martin
Thank you, sir, and Madam Chair.
From our first experience, one of the big pieces we learned was team composition and really looking at what those critical clinical capabilities were. Certainly, nursing was at the forefront of it, so as part of our lessons learned, we submitted observations to Ottawa to bolster that team. Again, that is going to be predicated on staff availability and clinical availability, but certainly on more personnel when you're looking at severe staffing shortages.
2:20 p.m.
NDP
Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC
Given that we've seen COVID now appearing in large numbers in rural, remote and indigenous communities, which often have very limited health facilities, is there a contingency plan in place for the Canadian military to provide assistance to those rural and remote indigenous communities in coping with the spike in COVID?
2:20 p.m.
Col Scott Malcolm
Thank you for the opportunity to respond.
Dating back to wave one and our work with the whole-of-government response plan for COVID-19, part of our planning was related to the potential to respond to the requirements to support rural and remote northern communities.
2:20 p.m.
Liberal
November 27th, 2020 / 2:25 p.m.
Conservative
Terry Dowdall Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, James Bezan.
I want to take an opportunity to thank all the witnesses who are here with us today and certainly to thank all the military men and women for what they've done during this crisis.
I want to make one quick point. I know that we're short of time, we're worried and it's Friday. One concern is that I think the study and what I'm on this committee for was originally the pandemic and the Canadian Armed Forces. I know we're getting into other discussions that I know are fantastic, but because we're short of time, maybe we could narrow it down to how it's really truly affecting our forces.
My question is for Mr. Shimooka. I'll begin by saying that we had the opportunity on Monday of having his distinguished colleague here, Dr. Leuprecht. He testified before this committee that in his opinion 25% of our active armed forces were dedicated to “domestic operations”, like we saw here in Operation Laser, and that the Canadian Armed Forces response to the COVID pandemic is an ineffective use of military resources and will definitely begin to harm our readiness for international responsibilities.
I wonder if you agree or don't agree with this assessment that Canada perhaps should look at standing up and funding a dedicated section of the Canadian Armed Forces for exclusive domestic operations.
2:25 p.m.
Senior Fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute, As an Individual
I would couch my answer by saying that I think that's not precisely a question for me. I think that's a question for, I guess, the body politic in determining what the roles are that the government wants to do for Canadians. If I look at different militaries internationally.... Let's take the Coast Guard or the protection of sovereignty. Canada uses its navy in a fashion that is probably more extensive than countries that have more robust coast guard capabilities—like Japan or something like that.
Relating that back to pandemics and aid to the civil power missions, like in this case, I think it is a reasonable ask, so long as there is planning and resources allocated that are commensurate to the task. Too often, I think, governments will saddle the Canadian military with a task and, as the fine representatives of the Canadian military here will show, they will do it to their utmost capability and ability, but the resources aren't applied and given to that mission. That's not just with the aid to the civil power. That's with a lot of different areas.
I would say my view is that I think that could be a legitimate use of the Canadian military. It just needs to be resourced properly and it must be clear that it is one of the tasks they must fulfill at the time.
2:25 p.m.
Conservative
Terry Dowdall Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Thank you for that.
Also, COVID-19 and the rise of social isolation and physical distancing have affected how we plan and execute our military operations here at home and definitely abroad. Do you see more future use of cyberwarfare and artificial intelligence? What are some of the issues there in terms of our international norms?
2:25 p.m.
Senior Fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute, As an Individual
I would argue that those areas of capability are increasing anyway. They are becoming some of the leading edge of military capability and power that we're seeing internationally. I can point to... just a couple of days ago, the U.K. announced, I believe, a 13-billion pound increase in its defence budget over a couple of years and a significant portion is going to go to cyberwarfare capabilities.
I don't necessarily believe that it might be a result of COVID or the pandemic itself, but certainly those are major areas of capability that are increasing in relevance in the international sphere.
2:25 p.m.
Conservative
Terry Dowdall Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Thank you very much. I don't know if I have a lot of time left, so I have a quick question for Colonel Malcolm.
How many Canadian Armed Forces members are currently deployed on Operation Laser?
2:25 p.m.
Col Scott Malcolm
Unfortunately, I don't have the exact number right now. I'd have to take that one on notice and get back to you.
2:25 p.m.
Conservative
Terry Dowdall Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
This is just a quick follow-up. I know you don't have the number, but that would be interesting, for sure.
Do you know if those members will be deployed on the operation to coordinate vaccine distribution as well?
2:25 p.m.
Col Scott Malcolm
At this time, the role of the Canadian Armed Forces in the rollout of the vaccine is still being explored. Right now we have members—logistics experts and planners—working with the Public Health Agency to assist with planning, but it's yet to be determined what other roles the Canadian Armed Forces may play in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
2:30 p.m.
Liberal
2:30 p.m.
Liberal
Larry Bagnell Liberal Yukon, YT
Thank you very much.
Thank you to all the witnesses.
I don't have a lot of questions because your testimony and your written input is so comprehensive. Thank you for the passion with which you are protecting people who cannot really protect themselves. Some of you in the military, and others, have put yourselves at risk. I really appreciate the efforts of all the witnesses and those who have done that.
I'd also like to congratulate Major-General Fortin, who is going to head up vaccine logistics and operations for the military, which the Prime Minister announced today.
Just as a reminder, in all the recent previous years, each year there has been an increase in transfers to the provinces and territories for health care. I particularly thank Professor Hébert for mentioning that we made a record contribution for the first time on home care recently. I think everyone here would agree that is very important, especially considering recent events.
My questions are for Major Martin. As you know, a high priority for everyone on the committee is increasing the importance of women in the military. My two questions for Major Martin are along that line.
First of all, I'm delighted you've been given such a senior and important role. That's fantastic. From all reports, you've done a wonderful job.
Have you noticed any special needs—I know Mr. Robillard asked this question as well—for the women in the long-term care homes, either as patients or as workers? Are there special needs they have, recommendations specific to women, or is there any discrimination similar to the ageism that was discussed earlier, but specific to women?
Are there any comments on that from your experience in your management role in this situation, Major Martin?
2:30 p.m.
Maj Karoline Martin
Thank you for the question.
I would say that when we're looking at staffing within long-term care, as described within some of the other testimony, certainly being able to provide child care and being able to provide care to other family members did impact those PSWs and those nurses when things started to shut down. Certainly there was a level of staffing degradation that was related to the role of women.
In terms of discrimination, there was none that I witnessed or that was reported to me. I think the majority of the managers who worked in all seven homes were women, so there was certainly a very prominent leadership role that women played within that sector.
2:30 p.m.
Liberal
Larry Bagnell Liberal Yukon, YT
Thank you.
Yesterday I was on a conference call with an organization, not military at all but a similar type of organization. They asked what they could do to increase the recruitment of women. You're obviously very successful. You were recruited. You've risen to the top. Do you have any suggestions about how we could increase women entering the military or how we could improve our recruitment efforts related to the special needs of women?
Is there anything from your personal experience that might help us or guide us to make improvements?
2:30 p.m.
Maj Karoline Martin
I can speak from personal experience. My husband and I are both military and have had an almost 20-year career together. Certainly, having communication about the support to families and the support to women's careers is very important. So is better communication about what the military does. I think from an outside perspective, most civilians look at the military as having that very infanteer, very hard, army-type mentality. Really, there could be communication on how there are wonderful opportunities within this organization.
