National Defence committee  Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members. It is an absolute pleasure to be here to address the Standing Committee on National Defence, specifically on Canada's involvement in NATO. This is what I deal with on a day-to-day basis and it is something I am very con

National Defence committee  Sure it is, of course. I think there are many different ways to solve the problem, but the fundamental point that Canadians have to understand is how foundational NATO and international security are to our own peace and prosperity. It's a multi-planed battlefield here. The reserv

National Defence committee  The economic aspect obviously is in our favour, and article 2, of course, has always been about building the economic security that we allow in terms of being able to traverse the seas, of goods and peoples, and of freedom of movement. That is a huge boon for Canada in itself.

National Defence committee  There are obviously many different ways that can happen, but we've always wanted a centralized message about why Canada's involvement in NATO is good. Essentially in the messages and themes that the #WeAreNATO campaign already has, it's all there. It explains everything. All we h

National Defence committee  Sorry, I wasn't explaining myself well enough. I would be happy to give you all a copy of this campaign. It's about creating your own message within the framework. Because we have so many local stories, and we have so much history, including on the Pearsonian foundations of NATO,

National Defence committee  I would echo what both Robert and Alex said, but just from the official NATO standpoint in their 2010 strategic concept, the last one that was created, it was mentioned explicitly that, as long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO shall be a nuclear alliance. They have continued to men

National Defence committee  It's a snake eating its own tail.

National Defence committee  First of all, on how we communicate and what exactly we are communicating, I do have a bit of a cheat sheet here. I can give you some of the main messages that NATO thinks we should know, and that all Canadians should know. NATO members are committed to supporting and protecting

National Defence committee  I don't necessarily think it will, just stated baldly like that, but if they are whipped into narratives.... If you think of the box office hit right now, it's an Avengers movie. These are superheroes. These are people trying to make the world better. I'm not sure if any of you

National Defence committee  I'm not as much of an expert as Mr. Huebert, but I do know that Operation Nanook has always had many international partners associated with it, certainly in the naval aspect. Canada has been involved in almost every single NATO exercise that has ever taken place. The continual

National Defence committee  Quite.

National Defence committee  My team, and I have 10 interns in my office every four months, is always looking at what's next. What could we do? Creating more of a cyber command integration in NATO is certainly something that is of great interest. It would probably be a nightmare to try to make happen, but NA

National Defence committee  That's an outstanding question because this is the very foundation of the NATO treaty. I'm not sure if you've all had a chance to actually read it. It's two pages, double-sided. The preamble and the first article are all about establishing NATO under the aegis of the United N

National Defence committee  I'm sure you've heard about NATO's new interest in projected security. That is what a lot of our operations, as far as training police forces and militaries are concerned, are really under. It's a rubric. The idea is that without nations that are on NATO's borders that are strong

National Defence committee  They've made it, certainly, a priority. They now have an ambassadorial representative at NATO for women in security. United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 is a very big topic at NATO at the moment. They are trying to push.... One of their three constituencies that they'