National Defence committee  Good morning, members of the Standing Committee on National Defence. It's really a delight to be back with you after your visit to NATO headquarters, to Latvia, and to the Ukraine. Right up front, I certainly wanted to thank the committee for their interest, obviously, in the N

National Defence committee  Thank you for the question, sir. Regarding our current mission, it's important to note that we now have a battle group in Latvia. We also have a ship and fighter jets contributing to NATO's air policing mission. We're definitely going to continue with that activity. We now have

National Defence committee  If I understand your question correctly, you want to know if NATO has changed its view with regard to missions in North Korea. Do I have that right?

National Defence committee  I know this committee has been addressed with respect to that particular issue. Like Canada, Europe in general would be concerned about the continued development of that nuclear missile program. In terms of distinct declarations of concern or warning, I'm not aware of any stateme

National Defence committee  I'll start that one. I think it's a great question. One of the benefits that I have while working within the strategic staff is that I have a small team run by an EX-level civil servant. His team is mandated to constantly be thinking about the future. One of the areas they've l

National Defence committee  I think Ambassador Kerry Buck spoke on that topic. I know that leading up to our defence policy review internal to DND working then with NATO we did a bit of stock taking on how we have attributed defence spending in relation to the process. I suppose the standards and norms tha

National Defence committee  Thanks very much for the question. In line with my remarks I do agree 100% that what we get from the NATO alliance is first and foremost an ability to kind of come together when we need to come together. As an example we on a rotational cycle participate in a very sizeable joint

National Defence committee  I can start. This is a great...

National Defence committee  Certainly. General Seymour will add some comments. We went into Latvia, eyes wide open, certainly. As a lead nation, we felt it was our responsibility to understand this challenge; to make sure that we had a strong, strategic communications plan that was vetted amongst all of th

National Defence committee  I can kick it off and then pass it to my colleagues here. Canada i's obviously playing a leadership role in working with the international community, including through NATO, to reduce tensions. We recognize the threats posed within the international community. One of the ways th

National Defence committee  That's a great question. I don't have any examples to draw upon in terms of NATO, but certainly we engage. I believe there's a youth champion. We have opportunities to engage with youth committees. There are various touchpoints. Frankly, a lot of them happen at our wings and ou

National Defence committee  That might be best taken on notice, so we can come back with the exact numbers. In terms of the numbers currently under Operation REASSURANCE, certainly with our ship's company persistently deployed, plus our 455 people, we are, day to day, generally 700 people. When we have our

National Defence committee  I can kick-start. Certainly, I think one of the points I would make first and foremost as we look at our new defence policy, the clarity of capability investments we have laid out in our defence policy over the next 20 years fully costed. Certainly, this as we ramp on those syste

National Defence committee  Okay, it's a great question. I would say broadly speaking one of my roles for the Chief of Defence Staff is to constantly be taking stock of what we have on the shelf. The responsibility of the Chief of Defence Staff, an awesome one, is to provide military advice to the Governmen

National Defence committee  You know I love the hockey analogies. I would be a little bit cheeky, if I may. I think at the end of the day it's not about the capital equipment. I think at the end of the day what Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces bring abroad, and I've been there, is the human capital.