Remarks by Minister of National Defence Bill Blair to the Canadian Global Affairs Institute conference on NORAD Modernization

Our defence spending next year alone will increase by 27 percent over this year.  We are on a strong upward trajectory and I have been able to provide our Allies with assurances that we know we need to do more.  In Canada, we don’t issue aspirational policy documents.  I’m not allowed to announce that I’m going to do something unless the money’s already booked at Finance.  But we know and have acknowledged, and as the Prime Minister has acknowledged many times, we know we need to do more and I’ll talk a little bit in my upcoming remarks about some of those things that we need to do more and which I believe very strongly will put us on an irrevocable path of reaching that 2 percent and exceeding it in the future.

Indeed, when you add up all the investments that we’ve made, as I said, we’ve nearly tripled our defence funding and we are making a clear and strategic choice in this policy update to focus on the defence of Canada and North America.  As the changing physical and geopolitical landscape in the region creates new threats and vulnerabilities, I believe that our most important task is to assert and defend Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic and the North. 

The new policy outlines new and advanced capabilities to strengthen Canada’s Arctic and Northern security in order to conduct ocean surveillance along our coastlines, including in the Arctic will require specialized marine sensors.  That means being better able to detect a growing range of sophisticated underwater threats.  To better assert our sovereignty and respond to national disasters, we’re acquiring a modern capable tactical helicopter capability.  And to improve our ability to detect, deter and respond to threats, we’re going to be building a new satellite ground station in the Arctic to enable us to communicate those threats to our allies in the United States and elsewhere. 

And to ensure a greater year-round military presence in the North, to monitor, secure and operate across Canada’s North, we are establishing a series of Northern Operational Support Hubs.  We’re also beginning the process to acquire airborne early warning aircraft, a brand new capability for the Royal Canadian Air Force.  And this is going to improve our ability to detect, track and prioritize airborne threats sooner and to ensure faster, better coordinated response with the United States when required.  We’re also looking at options to create a new fleet of all-terrain vehicles and put together all of these investments.  We want to ensure the Canadian Armed Forces have a greater presence, reach and mobility and responsiveness right across the North. 

And in addition to this, we’re also funding a project to acquire ground-based long-range missile capabilities to deter threats to Canada and North America.  We are investing significantly and establishing a new Canadian Armed Forces Cyber Command, along with the Communications Security Establishment, a joint cyber operations capability.  And as we’ve indicated in our document, we are also looking at, and the language I’ve used is careful, but I wanted to explain it.  We are exploring options for an integrated air missile defence and we are exploring options for underwater surveillance.  To be very clear, this is what we have to do. 

Once our officials tell us and determine what our requirements are, we will begin the process of securing the funding and getting the work done to build that critical infrastructure to protect this country from drones, missiles and artillery fire.  And I was very careful when I put in our document that we were looking at, exploring options for underwater surveillance.  And then, as we were making the announcement, the Prime Minister was rather clear.  We’re going to buy submarines.  We have to buy submarines.  The Victoria Class submarine is aging and is no longer fit for purpose.  We know we need to acquire that capability.  There is already work underway with the Royal Canadian Navy to examine our requirements. 

I’m in conversations with the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom with respect to Canada joining and participating in specific projects with relation to the second pillar of AUKUS and since we, the Prime Minister was so clear in our intent to acquire submarines, we have heard from countries around the world who want to work with Canada.  And I think that creates a real opportunity not just for our country, but for our industry.  I want to assure you all that there is more work to do, and much, and much to be accomplished.

In order, if you read the policy, I think we have two very significant tasks ahead of us.  First, to rapidly implement the projects that have been funded.  One of the great challenges of a Defence Minister in any country and certainly in this country, I have two great challenges.  One is getting the money and the second one is spending the money.  It’s kind of hard to believe how difficult it is to actually spend Defence money.  Every year, the Canadian Armed Forces, notwithstanding great people, thoughtful and passionate about their work, run into difficulties in actually getting the procurements done. 

And so we know that we have to work, explore options for these projects to get them through across the line.  And as well, as I’ve already indicated, we’re exploring our options with those projects which are not yet fully funded, but we acknowledge have to proceed.  And then, do the necessary work to turn them into a reality.  None of this is going to be possible without the Canadian Armed Forces’ greatest asset: its people.  inside every fighter jet and every Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship are the brave men and women and skilled members of the Canadian Armed Forces who have stepped up and answered the call to serve their country. 

Our people in uniform, Regular and Reserve Forces, including the Canadian Rangers, are at the centre of keeping this continent safe and fulfilling our mission.  I met with some of them recently when I visited Yellowknife.  I want to take the opportunity to thank them for their work and hear about some of the challenges they’re facing.  But the reality, which is obvious to them and to us, is that we are going to need more people and we’re going to need them quickly.  I’ve said it before and I’m going to have to say it again often, I’m in a hurry to get things done.  We cannot continue moving forward at the same pace that we always have.  I think the threat briefing that you have seen today and everyone in this room would agree, there’s an urgency to our work and we have to proceed. 

I’ve spoken at length about the recruitment problem, but we also have an enrolment problem on our hands.  Not just a matter of getting good people through the door.  Seventy thousand people applied for the Canadian Armed Forces last year, and a little over 4,000 got through our rigorous processes.  That’s just not good enough.  More than 20,000 permanent residents who applied to the Canadian Armed Forces last year, less than 100 of them got through our processes so far.  And whether they’re Canadian citizens or permanent residents, one thing we know for sure, when we tell Canadians there’s an opportunity to serve their country, they will answer that call.  But if they also have applied for four or five other jobs and we don’t call them back for 14 to 16 months, they’ve gone on to something else. 

And so we’re going to have to go fast, and we’re just going to have to get better at this.  And my job, quite frankly, is, is to authorize the actions that will be necessary to enable that to happen.  We’ve committed ourselves to innovative recruitment and retention measures, we’re reviewing our security and medical screening processes and don’t get me wrong, those processes are really, really important.  I had no intention of, of downgrading any of those rigorous requirements.  But I’m not sure that someone needs clearance for top secret information on the first day of basic training when really, we’re only teaching them how to march and to shoot. 

And so, I’m suggesting that we create a probationary period so that we can get more Canadians into uniform faster, get them trained, undertake those important processes of making sure that they are suitable for the Armed Forces and that we can move forward.  We’ve also heard really clearly from the members of the Canadian Armed Forces about the need to make new investments in housing, child care and better infrastructure.  Making sure that we support the men and women who choose to serve and their families is also a critically important job for us. 

And in addition to uniform personnel, it’s also going to be important to significantly build up our in-house public service expertise because we need them to deliver on all projects to get new equipment into the hands of our troops and to make sure that we can achieve the mission.  And I also want to assure you as we invest in the North, we can’t and we don’t have any intention of doing it alone.  Strengthening our continental defence and asserting our sovereignty in the North hinges on collaboration with Indigenous and Northern communities. 

One hundred fifty thousand Canadians call the North home.  Indigenous people have lived there since time immemorial.  Their expertise and knowledge on the land is vital.  Those consultations are not easy.  They’re absolutely necessary and we’ve committed to building a meaningful relationship with Indigenous and Northern communities because they can contribute and benefit from the investments in the region, including through NORAD modernization.  I’ve also been in conversation and I’m going back up to Iqaluit this weekend to talk to the three Northern Premiers.  Their collaboration and support is also going to be critically important. 

I’ll reiterate that these defence investments in the North are going to create good jobs, economic development opportunities for the people of the North.  And in particular through this defence policy, we’re creating significant opportunities to build multipurpose infrastructure in the North.  Things like highways, power plants, water treatment plants, fibre optic communications, all of which will benefit people that live there and support our operations there.  We’re going to be consulting with Northern and Indigenous partners to ensure we’re maximizing these benefits of infrastructure cause only by working together can we strengthen our continental security.  It also is going to require renewing our relationship with Canada’s defence industry, many of you here in this room. 

The innovation that comes out of our defence industrial base is essential to enhancing our military capabilities and maintaining a technological edge over our adversaries.  In a world where rapidly advancing technology is changing the face of conflict and the nature of the threats that we’re facing, we either stay ahead or we fall behind.  It’s why when I became the Defence Minister, I made an effort to meet with our industry partners to hear their ideas, but also to better  understand how we can support that industry that contributes close to $12.6 billion to the Canadian economy and support 78,000 good jobs in our economy, in Canada just last year alone. 

I hope, as I’ve said at the outset, that you’ve seen elements of your advocacy in our policy document, because as I believe very sincerely and as I told you then, we’re not just developing a defence policy or even a good foreign policy, it is an industrial policy.  It’s a national policy to build a stronger and better Canada.  I heard very clearly from those industry partners that I met with and the, the very good advocacy organizations that represent them, that they require clarity and certainty from the Canadian government.  I’ll give you an example of that. 

We talked to them about increasing the supply of Canadian-made munitions and upgrade our equipment with the latest technology, and industry told us they needed two things from us.  They need an investment in their industry to create new production lines and to secure supply chains.  But they also needed to have the certainty of enough committed funding so that can enter into long-term contracts.  That’s what they told us they needed.  I hope that you can see that’s what we delivered in this document. 

We’re going to work with industry.  We’re going to work with them to increase the production and supply of those munitions, we’re going to make our supply chain more resilient and we’re going to review Canada’s defence procurement system.  We need to find new and innovative ways to get our military the equipment it needs faster while also supporting Canadian industry.  And you know as well as I do that protecting our country, our continent, our people, requires very much a team approach.  All of Canadian military industry is part of that team.  We need to work together.  And so it is our intention to change how we work with industry and innovators, with researchers to build the partnerships we need and to support a more innovative defence industrial base. 

One of the things I learned in updating the defence policy we issued in 2017 is that so much in the world has changed.  And so it was necessary now, seven years later, to update that policy.  But seven years later, in a world that changes so rapidly is too long.  And so we’ve built right into this policy as well, the industrial policy needs to be continuously updated.  And so we’ve committed to doing that every four years in lockstep with our national security policy that is very much tied to this work. 

We intend to update that policy to ensure it’s part of a new national security strategy and I want to assure you all we need to begin now to get your input, your consultation, to make sure that as we go forward, we go forward together and that, that Canada’s defence policy aligns with your aspirations and your capabilities. 

As we tried to make very clear, defending Canada and Canadians is our most important task.  I want to assure you all it’s a task that I take very seriously because the threats we are facing here at home, as you’ve heard this morning, are changing rapidly.  We have no choice but to tackle these challenges head on.  We are clearly investing and boosting our investments in national defence.  I also want to share with you, because you’ve been part of this effort over the past several months, when I first got into this job last summer, one of the things that was rather apparent to me is that there was not a strong will among Canadians to invest significantly in national defence.  And so we’ve tried very hard to change the conversation. 

I don’t believe in frightening people.  I don’t believe in going to Canadians and making them afraid.  But at the same time, we need to make them aware of the risk environment.  Where are the challenges that those who have chosen to serve and defend our country, both in uniform and in our industries, need the support of Canadians in order to get that job done?  We’ve had a very important conversation in this country over the past several months.  I’ve tried to do my part to make it very clear that we have to do more, we need to do more, we will do more. 

And what I can share with you, as a result of all of our collective advocacy, the number of Canadians who now support spending more money on defence has more than doubled just in the last eight months.  It’s not insignificant, from somebody who’s, who works in a political environment, you need that kind of support from Canadians in order to convince the Finance Department that we need to make these investments.  There’s also another situation that we’re keeping a pretty close eye on.  And, you know, I remember back when I was a police officer post-9/11, there was a real concern within our, our closest ally friend and partner, the United States, about the security of North America. 

And I think there is a natural tendency for them, quite understandable, that they want to take an approach which is somewhat like a fortress America.  My job, our job is to make sure that that approach instead is fortress North America, that we demonstrate to our closest ally, our dearest friends and partners, that we are committed to the defence of this continent and both of our countries.  We do that through NORAD modernization, we do that for investments in the defence and sovereignty of our own North. 

I also want to assure you all I hope no one would think that’s a diminishment of our commitment to NATO or the Indo-Pacific.  Those are important alliances and Canada is and going to do its part.  But to be strong around the world, we have to be strong at home.  And I believe Canadians now strongly support the investments that we have to make in, in our Canadian Armed Forces and in national defence.  But they also have an expectation of all of us, they certainly have an expectation of me, they want to make sure that we’re spending their money well.  They want to make sure that those hard-earned tax dollars are an investment that produces a real public value in their interest, in the defence of their country. 

And so they watch us carefully, as they should, on how we spend their money and making sure that we go through the appropriate processes, that we are rigorous and careful about how they spend their money, but they also want us to go out and get the job done.  They want to make sure that we create those capabilities as quickly and efficiently as possible and that we deliver on our commitment.  And when we ask them to spend their hard-earned tax dollars, they want to know that we’re going to do it right.  And I’m going to need your help to do that. 

And I think that if we work well together, we can get this done.  I have no illusions that everything can be done quickly because everything takes a long time in this business, but at the same time, we’ve got to get things well started.  We’ve got to be able to move forward.  We’ve got to demonstrate to Canadians to give them continued, to get their support and confidence that we can do this right.  And only if we do it together can we deliver on that. 

Thank you very much.  I look forward to the questions that will be put to me.