National Defence Committee on Oct. 27th, 2022

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you again, gentlemen.

In the last hour, Madame Lambropoulos touched on a topic with one of our witnesses. I tried to find time to talk to Professor Braun about this and then ran out of time.

I'll now take the opportunity to see if I can get some thoughts from Professor Byers on multilateral co-operation. How can we participate in better countering any influence, whether it be Russian or Chinese, while working with our allies? We also talked in the last hour about Sweden and Finland and their presumed ascension to NATO.

Professor Byers, how can we work with our partners and allies?

[Michael Byers]

We can do it in thousands of different respects.

This is a time for like-minded countries to pull together. You can go from everywhere, from the United Nations down to bilateral co-operation. You can integrate military capabilities to build a system rooted in the west that stands for the rule of law internationally, and for peace and co-operation, partly because that makes us stronger as a collectivity and partly because it sends a signal.

One reason I'm sure Canada and Denmark resolved their maritime boundary and Hans Island disputes was to send a signal to the rest of the world that this is how civilized countries resolve their territorial differences. It's through negotiation, not invasion.

I could go on. We need to strengthen the trading regime and fight back against the forces of provincialism and nationalism, or the idea that everyone can only act in their own best interest. We need to see the western alliances as something truly cohesive.

What I'm arguing for here is our need to do what we've done since February. Western countries have been pulling together and standing up. It's been truly remarkable. Everyone thought NATO was dead, especially during the last American administration, but see how it's come back and stood up for democracy and freedom in Ukraine. We just need to build on that.

Across the board, our diplomats should be charged with finding every opportunity for co-operation with our friends, not needlessly antagonizing our opponents. Let's keep the Arctic Council suspended so that when there's a new Russian government, we can start up again. Let's keep the international space station going; it's a place where Russia is actually co-operating with the west.

There are a few things we can try to stabilize, but the big thing is for the west to pull together.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

That would be an incredible spot to finish, but I think I still have a minute, so I'm going to give Professor Lackenbauer a chance to chime in on that. Hopefully he's as inspiring as you are.

[Dr. P. Whitney Lackenbauer]

Thanks. I hope so as well.

I see a singular opportunity: the importance of small and medium powers, like Canada and the Nordic countries, sending signals in this climate of global competition, which great powers cannot.

I see this as a moment for Canada to work bilaterally or multilaterally in smaller groups of like-minded countries, play a role in signalling our solidarity and bring a dose of sobriety to some of the debates flourishing right now. That starts with focusing on what we mean when we talk about Arctic security and defence versus great power competition more broadly and really refining our messaging with like-minded states and NATO allies to ensure we are bolstering collective defence and integrated deterrence in the European Arctic, the north Atlantic and the North American Arctic.

[The Vice-Chair, Bloc, Christine Normandin]

Thank you so much. That ends the question round.

I'd like to thank Mr. Byers and Dr. Lackenbauer for being with us and their considerable input to the committee. Again, this will inform our thinking for the future.

I want to make it clear to the regular chair of the committee that I took absolutely no pleasure in interrupting the witnesses or my fellow members during question period.

Let's take a quick look at what we have planned for the next few meetings.

On Tuesday, we'll continue our study on Arctic security by looking at the modernization of the North American Aerospace Defence Command, or NORAD. We expect to have representatives from NORAD and academics.

Further to the motion that the committee recently adopted, an invitation has been formally extended to the Canadian Armed Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. We are waiting for their response.

Another important point is that our friendly clerk is waiting for your security information for access to the Pentagon.

Since there's nothing else, the meeting is adjourned.