National Defence Committee on June 6th, 2022

[Bill Matthews]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll start, but I will turn to the CFO to fill in some details in a moment.

I suspect the reason for some of the confusion is that there was some immediate aid given when the conflict first broke out, and then there has since been the provision of ammunition as well as some weaponry, in addition to some of the safety commitment that went earlier. Also, the minister mentioned cameras.

Budget 2022 also announced $500 million for the support of Ukraine, which was over and above what was already given. That spending is ongoing.

I'll pause there and ask the CFO to give us a grand total.

[Cheri Crosby, Assistant Deputy Minister, Finance, and Chief Financial Officer, Department of National Defence]

Thank you for that question.

In total so far, we have really two tranches. One is donation of both surplus materiel that we had and materiel we were using “in service”, as we call it. That amounts to almost 50 million dollars' worth of donations.

Secondly, in terms of purchasing new equipment, so far we're tracking almost $214 million in new purchases. Of course, that includes drone cameras, pattern armoured vehicles, some satellite imagery and so forth. We have not completely consumed the newly announced $500 million, but we're working towards that.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

In total, what is the commitment over the coming years?

[Cheri Crosby]

The Prime Minister announced $500 million in budget 2022. Prior to that, there was an announcement for $75 million. The $75 million is fully spent at this point. Of the $500 million, we've spent about $140 million, so we still have a little ways to go.

[Bill Matthews]

As maybe one more addition to that, of the $500 million, the intent is to spend it this fiscal year. It's not a multi-year—

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Okay. That was the clarification I was looking for. Thank you very much.

It's been suggested that the Canadian Forces chaplaincy services are going to be potentially suspended or scrapped.

Can you give me any comments on that? Is there anything that you're aware of on that?

[Bill Matthews]

I think the vice-chief probably has more to say than I do on this, so over to you.

[Lieutenant-General Frances J. Allen, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, Canadian Armed Forces, Department of National Defence]

Thank you very much for the question, Mr. Chair.

As part of our examination of culture, we take a look at many of the determining aspects that help us in our culture. The chaplaincy was certainly identified, because of the nature of religion, culture and spirituality, as being an important part of a culture. There's not an assessment at this point that we are scrapping the chaplaincy, but certainly the services and the way in which the chaplaincy services the personnel within the CAF are things we're continuously looking at and evaluating.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Okay. Was that a yes or no? Are you evaluating? Is that your final answer?

[LGen Frances J. Allen]

I apologize if that seemed ambiguous. I did not mean it to be ambiguous. Certainly I would say that we are not looking at cancelling the chaplaincy. However, how the chaplaincy services the Canadian Armed Forces and through what mechanisms are always under evaluation and will continue to be.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Vice-Chair.

I only have about one minute left, so I'm going to go back to Arctic sovereignty.

Deputy Minister Matthews, obviously patrol ships are important. Would you also care to comment on what other things we may be looking at in terms of satellite sensors? A minute is a very short period of time, but what are your thought processes on the Arctic?

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

It's an even shorter period of time.

[Bill Matthews]

I'll be very quick, Chair.

A lot of the future up for discussion is still in terms of any NORAD modernization. However, there is ongoing work to upgrade and maintain the sensors that we have in the North Warning System.

Given the time, I'll pause there.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Mr. Allison.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Mr. May, you have six minutes, please.

[Bryan May, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, all of you, for being here today.

There are a number of NATO-related expenditures in these main estimates, such as the NATO security investment program and other commonly funded programs. Can you describe some of Canada's financial contributions to these commonly funded programs and how they benefit the alliance?

[Bill Matthews]

Certainly. I will start and may turn to the CFO for some additional information, if necessary.

You'll see it in the estimates. Under grants and contributions, there is funding for our ongoing NATO work. The NATO common funding basically supports the ongoing funding for NATO. Obviously, there are very lively discussions every year about just how much money NATO requires from its members to properly function. I think, for obvious reasons, that number is increasing. It adds to training and operations. That's just the basic NATO funding.

If you're looking for specific operations, that would be outside of this money, which is the core of NATO.

Cheri, do you want to add anything to that?

[Cheri Crosby]

What you've described, Deputy Minister, as the core part of what we fund—about $157 million of the estimates—is meant to go towards common funding. There's another $62 million that goes to what is called NATO security investment, which includes the communications and IAM infrastructure that supports it. Finally, there's a small amount that also goes to logistics and centres of excellence.

I could say, too, that the security investment fund funds initiatives such as the airborne early warning, ground surveillance and expansion of NATO command. It's all-encompassing, in that sense.

[Bryan May, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

Thank you.

How is National Defence using these estimates to advance victim-centric approaches to sexual misconduct? How long will it take to get these programs up and running?

[Bill Matthews]

Perhaps I'll insert a quick word or two, then pass it to the vice-chief.

You will see that money was announced in previous budgets in these estimates. The minister has already touched on the relatively new organization around culture change. There are ongoing programs for restorative engagement.

The vice-chief may have more specifics to add.

[LGen Frances J. Allen]

The estimates have money specifically related to activities that support the SMRC through the grants and contributions program submissions you will see within the estimates themselves. There is also the broader work that has come through previous budgets to enhance and enable those capabilities, moving forward, which continue to roll into our estimates for this year.

There is, of course, broader culture change work under way within the Canadian Armed Forces. It goes to support that culture change, which is impactful and essential in leading the support for victims and CAF members more broadly. That also continues under the existing baseline funding we have.

[Bryan May, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

In these estimates, National Defence is requesting funding to modernize and upgrade its information management and information technology platforms. How will these upgrades protect National Defence systems against cyber-attacks from foreign actors like Russia?

[Bill Matthews]

We could probably take the rest of the time in this committee meeting to answer that question.

Shelly Bruce is with us and may have something to add on the cyber front.

In terms of the upgrades being pursued, think of a couple of things. Think of corporate systems—HR, finance and things like that—but also think of the technology used to share information among the various lines of service and how that needs to be well integrated and protected.

I think it might be worth turning to Shelly to see if she wants to add anything about cyber-defence, in general.

[Shelly Bruce, Chief, Communications Security Establishment]

Thank you.

I would note that, in the CSE portion of the budget for this year, we have a submission for a new year in a multi-year funding proposal to modernize aging cryptographic equipment and infrastructure, which will allow us to safeguard classified information, including in the CAF systems. Of course, there are other initiatives related more broadly to Government of Canada information technology security.

I can elaborate a bit more on that, if you like, but, in general, there are a lot of good initiatives in play to help protect the command and control systems for CAF.

[Bryan May, Liberal, Cambridge, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, do I have enough time?