Thank you, madam.
Mr. Chairman, members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, good morning.
I am Lt. General Marc Dumais and I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you this morning. In my opening statement, I wish to inform you on my responsibilities and why I am here.
First, to echo the comments of the Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Oceans, I would like to extend my sincere condolences, on behalf of myself and everyone in the Canadian Forces search and rescue organization, to the families, loved ones and friends of those who passed away in the tragedy of L’Acadien II.
My current appointment is the commander of Canada Command. As such, I have the responsibility for commanding all Canadian Forces operations that occur in Canada and in North America, with the exception of the NORAD aerospace defence mission. Hence, all Canadian Forces missions, whether in defence of Canada or providing military assistance in support to another federal or provincial authority, come under Canada Command.
I report directly to the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Hillier, and my headquarters are here in Ottawa. I have six regional commanders across our country as well as one commander in Winnipeg who provides air capability and who reports to me.
As you may know, the federal search and rescue program is led by the Minister of National Defence. The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is responsible for delivering the maritime portion and this is done through the Canadian Coast Guard. As Commander of Canada Command, one of the missions for which I am responsible is providing the Canadian Forces Search and Rescue response across Canada.
With respect to the Search and Rescue role, three of the previously-mentioned commanders also have responsibilities for the three Canadian Forces search and rescue regions in Canada. They are the commander of the Joint Task Force Pacific region, responsible for the west coast, the commander of the air capability, again located in Winnipeg, who is responsible for the central part of the country, and the commander of Joint Task Force Atlantic region, who is responsible for the east coast.
So, to summarize the search and rescue chain of command related to today’s discussions, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax coordinates Canadian Forces and Canadian Coast Guard responses to search and rescue events on the east coast. This centre reports to the Commander Joint Task Force Atlantic, who reports to me, as Commander Canada Command.
While the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre comes under the military structure, it is a joint organization with both Coast Guard and Canadian Forces personnel working together. The Coast Guard personnel are managed through their own reporting chain, and responses to marine incidents are generally dealt with through the Canadian Coast Guard organization. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre’s responsibility is to coordinate the best possible response to search and rescue situations between our two organizations.
Hence, for the search and rescue mission, my responsibility is the command and control of Canadian Forces search and rescue response. However, in the Canadian Forces other organizations are responsible for the training, education, career progression, and posting of the personnel who are in the search and rescue organizations. Hence, the individuals in the search and rescue system are managed by the environmental chiefs, primarily the chief of the air staff and the chief of the maritime staff. Also, the chief of military personnel, who has already appeared before you, is responsible for developing and maintaining the policy framework required to apply the Officials Languages Act within the Canadian Forces.
Of course, as the one responsible for the delivery of the search and rescue capability, I have a responsibility for ensuring this response is adequate. That is why I am here today. To respond to any concerns there may be with respect to the level of service in terms of the Official Languages Act provided by the Canadian Forces following the tragic events of L'Acadien II.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.