National Defence committee  I can assure you that we look at the depth of the tool bag and assess what's possible all the way up, short of the kinetic response of the missile or gun employment. We're always trying to minimize the collateral damage, not only from the use of the weapon but also because of the

National Defence committee  Given the angle of the member's question with regard to international affairs and the transparency of the department, I'll let General Prévost start. I may add to that afterward.

National Defence committee  Good. I'll add the element of NORAD headquarters engagement in transparency to both government and military apparatus in the U.S. and Canada. It's part of our inherent process that we exercise daily and weekly, not only at the tactical level but all the way up to me and the comm

National Defence committee  Thanks for the question. Yes, in the past, we have had intercepts on the East Coast or the northeast flank of NORAD near the Arctic Archipelago. That's why we maintain forward operating locations that allow us to respond to those incursions into the air defence identification zo

National Defence committee  No, nothing. To characterize the aircraft approaching our shores, we need to identify them, determine if they have any weapons on board and analyze their behaviour to see if they pose a threat. We also analyze existing intelligence from the preceding weeks and months to ensure t

National Defence committee  I'd like to thank the member for the question. We had the privilege of welcoming the senators here to NORAD Headquarters last week. First, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told them. I'm grateful for the committee members' interest in national defence and defence in genera

National Defence committee  In NORAD, related to the current event, there's been an ongoing assessment of the activities from not only an intelligence perspective but also an operational perspective involving the regions involved. That happened literally after the high-altitude surveillance balloon and cont

National Defence committee  Thanks for the question. As discussed by General Prévost—and I believe this as well—this could be one of the options, especially as it relates to the high-altitude surveillance balloon. Again, with regard to the other three objects that were detected, it's too early to tell wher

National Defence committee  Okay. Thanks for the question. Actually, I'll roll all the questions from the chairman and the two members into an answer, hopefully. First of all, General VanHerck expressed that Russia and China have been monitoring our activities for the last 20 years while Canada and the U.S

National Defence committee  Thanks for the question, Mr. Chair. I would have loved to answer the chairman's, question but I'll stick to the member's question.

National Defence committee  I mentioned earlier that there's an element of persistence and maybe proximity, because low-earth orbit satellites are still low-earth orbit, which is slightly more distance than the high-altitude surveillance balloon. That would be my first answer, but I would defer to the PRC t

National Defence committee  Obviously, for reasons of classification at this point, Mr. Chair, we're unable to actually answer that question. That's an analysis that is ongoing, especially with the high-altitude surveillance balloon, by the U.S. We'll be standing by, from a Canadian perspective, for additio

National Defence committee  I can tell you that transparency is at the forefront of NORAD. We try to actually inform—within the limits of operational security, obviously—the Canadian public of our activities so that they understand what we do and what the great Canadians and Americans within the alliance he

National Defence committee  First of all, I'm going to say that the modernization of NORAD starts not necessarily with capabilities but rather with the personnel. They are the ones here at NORAD across all three regions, whether Canadian or American, who really make NORAD relevant to our competitors and adv

National Defence committee  I'll start off, and then I'll let General Prévost expand on the notification to the Canadian public. I just want to highlight that part of our standard practice—and we continue to normalize practices as the situation evolves—is that if something happens in Canadian airspace, we