National Defence Committee on Oct. 18th, 2022

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, I would just say this. General Eyre did talk about the recruitment and the personnel shortage that we're currently facing and how those are impacting operations, including in the Arctic, so I think this is a relevant question.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

That's a point of argument, not a point of order.

I ask that you continue.

[Gen Wayne D. Eyre]

Mr. Chair, this is a tough issue for our society, but I think it's important to remember that your Canadian Armed Forces are the force of last resort to defend this country. We have to take additional measures to ensure that we are ready to be that force of last resort, so it's important.

We're an organization that serves to protect others. We're an organization that is predicated on teamwork. One part of teamwork is protecting your teammates, but another part of it is being ready yourself and being operationally ready to undertake the challenges we face.

We know that the vaccination has reduced the severity and intensity of symptoms. We know that we're still in the middle of the pandemic and that it continues to evolve, as will our vaccination policy. You will note that last week we issued an updated policy—an interim policy, as I call it, because it continues to evolve.

Mr. Chair, we need a force that is focused on protecting others and protecting each other, focused on teamwork and focused on following orders—

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Pardon me—

[Gen Wayne D. Eyre]

In my first eight years of service, I filled up three international vaccination books because of international requirements, because of national requirements, because of vaccination requirements. It's nothing new.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

No, it's not anything new. These soldiers with whom I've spoken are concerned because they are in that 19-to-39 age group, so it's a high risk for them.

To go back to the Arctic, if the Harry DeWolf is ready to conduct force generation activities this November and December after forfeiting its participation in Operation Nanook in 2022, what number of new recruits will be on board?

[Gen Wayne D. Eyre]

Mr. Chair, I do not have the specifics for that, but the commander of the navy is going to be with us in the next session, and I'm sure he will be well prepared for that question.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Very good.

I did not receive an answer to the previous question on what number of people are going to be ejected from the military on the basis of their refusal to take the vaccine.

[Gen Wayne D. Eyre]

Mr. Chair, to the best of my knowledge, everybody who has been in the release process has finished that process and there's nobody waiting to be released, but that's to the best of my knowledge. There could be a handful of others.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Why were they court-martialled? Why weren't they just administratively released?

[Gen Wayne D. Eyre]

Mr. Chair, that's the policy we put in place at the time, and it has worked out.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

You seem to be heading down the rabbit hole that I was rather hoping we could avoid, namely that this is a North American study, not a vaccine study.

You still have 30 seconds.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Thank you.

With respect to the northern exercises, there's one that occurs in Norway every two years. What was our participation like in comparison to previous times when our troops engaged in that exercise?

[Gen Wayne D. Eyre]

Mr. Chair, over the decades, our participation has gone up and down based on our focus in the world, on troop availability and on what other operations were being conducted. I personally, in the early 1990s, spent a number of months up in northern Norway exercising.

For the most recent exercise, I do not have at my fingertips the number of troops that were involved. We will take that question on notice and get back to you.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Will that be a routine exercise that our troops will continue to participate in as much as possible?

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Ms. Gallant.

Mr. Robillard, we now go to you for five minutes.

[Yves Robillard, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

From a defence perspective, how is the changing international security environment affecting Canada, especially in the Arctic? What would you say are the most serious threats and biggest challenges now and over the next decade?

[Gen Wayne D. Eyre]

Thank you for your questions.

Those are good questions for our head of intelligence.

[MGen Michael Wright]

As a member of the international order based on rules and international standards, Canada faces threats from Russia and China.

Russia has military capabilities in the Arctic and could decide to move from its current defence posture to offence.

China is in the midst of exploring options and conducting tests in the Arctic, and we know it has military ambitions for the region.

A third threat facing the Arctic is climate change.

[Yves Robillard, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

What types of equipment, infrastructure and other capabilities does the CAF need to address existing and emerging threats to Canada and North America?

Does the CAF have the right mix of assets to defend Canada and North America effectively and efficiently?

[Gen Wayne D. Eyre]

My wish list of needs could go on and on.

First, having knowledge and expertise in every domain in the far north is paramount. Second, having the capability to respond to threats in each of those domains is crucial. I'm talking about threats on land, in the air, in space and in cyberspace.

The list of needs is long. I could break it down by domain, if you like.

[Yves Robillard, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Mr. Robillard.

I'm not seeing anyone else wishing to ask a question.

On behalf of the committee, I want to thank you for your appearance here today with your colleagues. It's nice to re-establish a relationship. I look forward not only to what your colleagues have to say in the next hour but also to a continuing and hopefully ongoing and fruitful relationship between the armed forces and this committee. Thank you, sir.

With that, we'll suspend while we bring in the next panel.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Let's get this meeting under way.

It's my privilege to welcome Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, who is no stranger to this committee, as well as Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny and Major-General Conrad Mialkowski.

Gentlemen, you have five minutes. How are you going to sort that out? I have no idea who's going to speak first. If there's nobody at all, we'll go directly to the questions.

Mr. Bezan, are you ready for your six minutes?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Yes, I am.

First of all, it's nice to see all the commanders here from all the different parts of the Canadian Armed Forces. I appreciate the service and commitment that you're showing. Please pass on our best wishes to all members of the air force, navy, and army.

General Kenny, I want to start with you.

We talked about NORAD modernization and the role the F-35 is going to play. General Eyre also talked about the threat environment from Russia and also now with China.

I don't know if you saw the story earlier this morning, but the daily Telegraph in the U.K. is reporting that 30 Royal Air Force pilots have started training Chinese pilots on how defeat western fighter aircraft. The story also said that Canadians may have also been hired away from the Royal Canadian Air Force to work with the Communist Party of China on the same task.

Are you aware of that? What types of safeguards are in place to ensure that national security is not compromised by those individuals who are lured away by big paycheques?