Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I will be very brief.
Thanks very much for the opportunity to speak to you today about NORAD modernization and our current efforts to strengthen our continental defence.
My name is Jon Quinn. I'm the director general of continental defence policy at the Department of National Defence.
My division is responsible for policy development for continental Arctic defence, NORAD modernization and the military use of cyberspace and other emerging capabilities. In this capacity, we also work really closely with Major-General Kelsey and his team to ensure close alignment between policy direction and force development.
Canada and the United States formally established NORAD in 1958 as a binational military command. NORAD's mandate of aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning is more important than ever to meet current and evolving threats to North America. However, the last major investment in NORAD capabilities was in the late 1980s, when the north warning system was established.
Modernizing NORAD and strengthening continental defence more broadly is becoming ever more urgent in the context of two fundamental shifts in the global security environment.
The first is the return of strategic competition between states, which we're seeing play out tragically and in real time on the ground in Ukraine. This tectonic shift in geopolitics will not be limited to Europe. It will also play out at home, on our continent and in our Arctic, and we need to shore up our defences.
The second is the increasingly stark complications of climate change that are increasing international interest in the Arctic and increasing demands on our military to respond to emergencies, including conducting search and rescue operations. We are actively working to deliver on the directions in Minister Anand's mandate letter to modernize NORAD in collaboration with the United States and to more broadly strengthen our domestic defences.
This commitment is also an important element of high-level bilateral discussions with the United States, including the Prime Minister's engagement with President Biden in February 2021. Also, in August 2021, the previous minister of national defence and the U.S. Secretary of Defense released a joint statement on NORAD modernization, which identified priority areas to guide future investments and collaboration.
We have conducted extensive analysis to identify key threats, gaps and potential solutions to defend Canada and Canadian interests in this new reality. Our analysis benefited from ongoing collaborative work with the United States, including through NORAD in Colorado Springs.
We also engaged multiple stakeholders, including academics, industry and territorial and indigenous governments to ensure we approach the challenges ahead of us in a holistic way in looking at the full range of defence and security challenges Canada will face in the coming years and to ensure we maximize the broader benefits to Canada of any future investments in defence.
In closing, I would note that the minister has been quite clear about her intent to bring forward a robust package of investments to strengthen continental defence in the near future.
I look forward to your questions.
Thank you, Chair.