Our deputy, Bryan Bailey, and I had the opportunity to attend the CDA Conference in Ottawa 05-06 March. It was a first time that the conference was sold out and there were participants from most NATO countries, Australia, South Korea, and a large number of defence industry leaders. The Minister of National Defence opened the conference by stating that he is optimistic about defence and that there is finally a sense of urgency and great opportunity to rebuild and rearm our forces. Our Forces have a number of projects that are close to approval, and they are working hard to speed up procurement. 70% of Canadians support increasing spending on defence (the first in a long time) and we need to continue to communicate about defence and security to our population. There was discussion about legislating 2% Defence spending (no longer discretionary) , and while we realize this is not enough it nevertheless would be good for the future and provide stability. There was an emphasis on supporting Canadian Defence Industry and adding Canadian jobs to our communities. The Navy should do well with the announcement of the new River Class destroyers and close to confirmation on the announced 12 new submarines. The Air Force starts getting their first of 88 F-35s in 2026 and there is also a sensible modernization plan to improve our Army capabilities. My concern after the Minister spoke was that this is all before an election, but I believe seeing what Europe is now doing by substantially increasing their defence spending, and knowing that Trump is not going away soon, there is both consensus and momentum.
The National Security and Intelligence Advisor informed the Conference that we are close to developing, finally, a National Security Strategy which will come out in 2025. NORAD, continental defence, and our arctic understandably remain a major focus. The US Commander for NORAD and NORTHCOM spoke to us and, despite Canada not providing enough defence capabilities, he was extremely supportive of Canadian cooperation and our intentions to improve our capabilities in the north. He was also optimistic about developing Trump’s Golden Dome. It remains to be seen what positive impact this will have on us.
Our CDS emphasized that we are in the midst of another transformation. Her number one priority is recruiting (it has been for the last 10 plus years) but she did mention mobilizing our citizens and leveraging our Reserves several times. This remains to be seen as we are way too small and hollow, and our numbers are barely 60K. Her number two priority is continental defence and the north with her third priority NATO. The CDS has joined an Arctic CHOD forum that is now focusing on the north bolstered by new NATO allies Sweden and Finland. She mentioned an increase in the role of the reserves on deployments, but we all know that they lack equipment. She also mentioned that the Forces needs to be better at informing Canadians about what the Forces are doing.
The German, UK, and Canadian Naval Commanders all spoke about rebuilding their respective navies with more of a focus on seabed to satellite coverage and the significance of deterrence and protecting shipping. They all spoke to the significant hybrid threats against communications and economic capabilities. The UK and Germans are significantly increasing the size of their navies and were both very happy with Canada procuring submarines and putting more focus in the north.
The Australian Army Commander spoke about changing all of their assumptions about the world and that there was a whole of nation approach required to improve their defence capabilities. Their strategy is now more focused on deterrence and denial. This denial is sensing and being able to strike the enemy in the littoral at longer ranges integrating a joint focused force with long range precision strike capabilities and rapid responses and integrating C4.
Our Army’s priorities are home defence and the arctic where we need to build the infrastructure and vehicles to operate in the north. The Army will continue to provide the Brigade Headquarters and Battle Group in Latvia in support of the NATO and the Ukraine. There is a focus on long range precision strike with the army prepared to buy 24 HIMARS and up to 98 Self-Propelled guns, long range radars, 120 mm mortars, and air defence capabilities. The Army is working on new doctrine and a force structure out to 2040, with a mindset of winning by adapting the fastest. Our Army Commander also wants to develop a Land Component Command Headquarters which is a NATO ask. Lot’s of work but I agree with the Army’s overall direction. What is clear is that the Army will also need significant investment and support. .
All in all, the conference was very informative and that the CAF needs plenty of support. There is more of a sense of urgency and this Trump opportunity needs to be capitalized on. Our election will be key and our next PM needs to focus on defence and security and our CAF. We need to do our small part by continuing to communicate defence and security issues of which there are many. Lieutenant-General Guy Thibault (Retired) will be passing on his CDA and CDAI Chairman of the Board duties likely in April. He has been an excellent Chairman over the past seven years. The Executive Director, Dr. Youri Cormier, has been a strong voice for defence and he handed over his responsibilities to Gaelle Rivard Piche during the conference. It is also worth mentioning that CDA paid for most of our conference entrance fees.
On 27 February we were fortunate to have our VCDS, Lieutenant-General Steve Kelsey speak to us. He spoke of the many challenges facing the Forces but again he is optimistic based on the current geopolitical situation and a heightened requirement to rebuild our Forces. We need to improve our war fighting advantage with a focus on the arctic and improve our continental defence. The threat posed by Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran is growing and there are significant reasons to now spend more on defence.
Our membership continues to grow, but I need you all to assist in reaching out to your fellow Kingstonians and Canadians from the local area. I have invited the Canadian Club to attend and our mayor and local MP promise to attend our 20 March event with Lieutenant-General Michel Maisonneuve (Retired).
Our next project is the modernization of our website which we hope to be ready by 01 May. Memberships continue to come in and our goal is to have 100 members in good standing in recognition of our centennial. Lastly, I hope to see everyone at next month’s speaker which will feature RKUSI’s own General Walt Natyncyzk (Retired) on 17 April.