Evidence of meeting #20 for National Defence in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was arctic.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
I think we should ask for an extension if the witnesses are prepared to—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Charles Sousa
Well, we have an in camera portion afterwards, so I don't want to take up too much of that time.
Conservative
January 26th, 2026 / 11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Jeff Kibble Conservative Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
We have witnesses here; our expertise is here. This is important information.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Charles Sousa
We'll eat into our in camera time, but that's fine.
Let's give another round to Mr. Kibble and Mr. Watchorn, and then we'll call it. Is that okay?
Conservative
Jeff Kibble Conservative Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
To the air force and Coast Guard uniforms, both on the panel and in the audience today, thank you for your service.
General, you mentioned sites—Cold Lake and Bagotville—for F-35s. What forward operating sites are we looking at for effecting intercepts—follow-on sites?
Lgen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet
The forward operating locations are in Inuvik, Iqaluit and Yellowknife. We have deployed operating locations in Goose Bay, Trenton and Comox.
Conservative
Conservative
Jeff Kibble Conservative Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
I mean timelines for those to be ready for F-35s.
Lgen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet
We have timelines that we're working on with our infrastructure colleagues to be—
Conservative
Jeff Kibble Conservative Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
Perhaps you could submit those dates later. Thank you very much.
Mr. Quinn, you mentioned integrated air and missile defence. You're referring to ballistic missile defence systems.
Director General, Continental Defence Policy, Department of National Defence
Not exactly. Integrated air and missile defence is for recognizing the fact that there are multiple types of missile threats: cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic—
Conservative
Jeff Kibble Conservative Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
The term “ballistic missile defence” is the same thing.
Director General, Continental Defence Policy, Department of National Defence
It would be encompassed within that, absolutely.
Conservative
Jeff Kibble Conservative Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
Do you feel that Canada should continue to participate in a new ballistic missile defence? We've heard “golden dome” and other things thrown around. Is that something we should continue to progress?
Would F-35s be an integral part of that system to keep it effective, as we've heard about elsewhere? If you could speak to that briefly, that would be great.
Director General, Continental Defence Policy, Department of National Defence
As mentioned, we are already actively involved in the integrated air and missile defence of the continent through domain awareness and other assets. I think it's absolutely in Canada's interest to continue to play that role and to enhance our capabilities in that area, as committed to in the most recent defence policy. Fighter aircraft will absolutely be an integral part of that layered system of systems to defend against evolving air and missile threats.
Conservative
Jeff Kibble Conservative Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
Specifically, it's the fifth generation that would have the capability to participate in that type of system.
Director General, Continental Defence Policy, Department of National Defence
On that, I would defer to General Speiser-Blanchet, who is more of an expert on the tech.
Lgen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet
The right fighter that can meet the current threats would be the correct answer to that. In that case, it is the fifth generation, the F-35, which has already been evaluated and selected. It also includes the remotely piloted aircraft system, the SkyGuardian; the tankers we're getting airborne; and the early warning and control that we are looking at acquiring. There are multiple elements that contribute in the big system of systems.
Conservative
Jeff Kibble Conservative Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC
It's a complex, integrated system. I appreciate that.
I have one more very quick question for you.
As we discussed earlier, we know that the north warning system is scheduled to expire now and it's still operating. However, is the planned Arctic over-the-horizon radar going to be able to handle the aerial threat of hypersonic missiles for detection?