Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, and the Canadian Armed Forces, CAF, have standard procedures to detect, identify and assess airborne objects. Specifically, NORAD responds to unknown radar tracks by correlating radar data with various data sources and means, including NORAD aircraft, to inspect the source. If NORAD assesses that an object does not present a threat, it will continue to monitor and be prepared to respond as appropriate, in coordination with other government departments and agencies.
With regard to part (b), both the CAF and NORAD utilize checklists to determine what may constitute a threat. National Defence applies the principles of the Access to Information Act, and protects information on the grounds that disclosing certain information could be injurious to national security and defence. Therefore, the contents of the checklists cannot be disclosed.
With regard to part (c) and (d), reporting on unidentified aerial phenomena, UAP, can be undertaken at multiple levels, including at local and national levels, through organizations internal and external to the Government of Canada. Thus, details for parts (c) and (d) are not held exclusively by National Defence and cannot be provided within the allotted time.
With regard to part (e), NORAD has used aircraft to inspect several airborne objects since March 2023, all of which were correlated to hobby balloons. The most recent of these events occurred in February 2024 over the state of Utah. NORAD has conducted no intercepts of airborne objects since February 2023.