October 25, 2023 | Local, Security
Media are invited to attend as Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and MP for North Vancouver, leads a keel laying ceremony at Seaspan Vancouver Shipyards, marking an important milestone in the construction of the second new Joint Support Ship for the Royal Canadian Navy.
May 4, 2023 | Local, C4ISR
The Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar (Arctic OTHR) will be established in the southern portion of Ontario and should be ready for initial operations by 2028.
April 6, 2022 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
(le français suit) New Testing Stream funding opportunities! We're looking for innovative, pre-commercial prototypes that can help address Canada's priorities in the Arctic and the North, defence, and oceans fields. Through these three themes, we've launched 15 new funding opportunities for Canadian innovators. Do you have what it takes? You could receive a contract of up to $1.15M to get your innovation tested with the Government of Canada! Apply before April 22, 2022 at 2:00pm EST. Arctic and the North From climate resilience to emergency response, the Government of Canada is seeking innovative solutions to address priorities in the Canadian Arctic and North. Check out our list of opportunities and apply for funding if you're eligible. Defence The Government of Canada is looking for prototypes to explore innovating the country's defence capabilities by bolstering cybersecurity, enhancing soldier systems, and more. Check out our list of opportunities and apply for funding if you're eligible. Oceans Could your innovation make a difference for Canada's coasts and oceans? The Government of Canada is seeking prototypes to address coastal resilience, pollution remediation, and other ocean priorities. Check out our list of opportunities and apply for funding if you're eligible. Nouvelles possibilités de financement pour le volet " mise à l'essai " ! Nous sommes à la recherche de prototypes précommerciaux novateurs qui peuvent aider à répondre aux priorités du Canada dans les domaines de l'Arctique et du Nord, de la défense et des océans. Selon ces trois thèmes, nous avons lancé 15 nouvelles possibilités de financement pour les innovateurs canadiens. Avez-vous ce qu'il faut ? Vous pourriez recevoir un contrat d'une valeur maximale de 1,15 million de dollars pour mettre votre innovation à l'essai auprès du gouvernement du Canada ! Posez votre candidature avant le 22 avril 2022 à 14 h HNE. L'Arctique et le Nord De la résilience climatique aux interventions d'urgence, le gouvernement du Canada est à la recherche de solutions novatrices pour répondre aux priorités dans l'Arctique et le Nord canadiens. Consultez notre liste d'opportunités et faites une demande de financement si vous êtes admissible. Défense Le gouvernement du Canada est à la recherche de prototypes pour explorer l'innovation des capacités de défense du pays en renforçant la cybersécurité, en améliorant les systèmes des soldats, et plus encore. Consultez notre liste d'opportunités et faites une demande de financement si vous êtes admissible. Océans Votre innovation peut-elle faire une différence pour les côtes et les océans du Canada ? Le gouvernement du Canada est à la recherche de prototypes pour aborder la résilience côtière, l'assainissement de la pollution et d'autres priorités relatives aux océans. Consultez notre liste d'opportunités et faites une demande de financement si vous êtes admissible.
May 4, 2020 | Local, Land
The Liberal government is walking back an election promise to buy back “all" military-style assault rifles in Canada, opting instead to allow current owners to sell their weapons to the government or to keep them under a grandfathering process, federal officials say. The measure is set to anger both sides of the gun-control debate, who are already polarized over the looming ban of a number of semi-automatic weapons. The partial buyback program is the latest example of the Liberal Party of Canada promising strict gun-control measures during an election and then backing off in government. Under grandfathering, new weapons sales will be stopped, but current owners will be allowed to keep their banned weapons at home under certain conditions. The broad details of the buyback program were provided by federal officials, whom The Globe and Mail is not identifying because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Alison de Groot, of the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association, said a partial buyback program is “bad public policy” and doesn't make sense. “It is totally ineffective and a waste of taxpayer dollars,” she said. “Canadians will not be safer.” Nathalie Provost, who was hit by four bullets during the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre in which 14 women died, said a partial buyback is another disappointment in her 30-year battle for gun control. She said she understands the logistical difficulties of a full buyback, but blamed the situation on a series of failures by successive governments to enact strong gun-control measures. She was particularly critical of the elimination in 2012 of much of the federal long-gun registry under the previous Harper government. “I'm so angry, you can't imagine,” said Ms. Provost, who is part of a gun-control group called Poly Remembers. As previously reported by The Globe, the federal government is implementing its election promise to ban military-style assault rifles in Canada. Federal officials said the government has adopted a list of nine weapons to be prohibited in Canada, including firearms such as the AR-15, the Ruger Mini-14 and the Beretta CX4 Storm that have been used in mass shootings, in Canada or abroad Provisional list of recommended prohibited firearms Estimated numbers in Canada M16, M4, AR-10, AR-15 Sandy Hook, New Zealand, Las Vegas, Orlando Mini-14 Polytechnique 83,570 16,860 M14 Moncton Swiss Arms Classic Green 5,230 1,340 Vz58 Quebec Mosque CZ Scorpion EVO 3 11,590 1,810 Beretta CX4 Storm Dawson College SIG MCX and SIG MPX 1,510 1,000 Robinson XCR Guns above 20 mm calibre 1,830 30 Guns with muzzle energy above 10,000 joules 600 MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GOVERNMENT OF CANADA The ban, which has been made through a cabinet decision, is set to be announced and take effect shortly. The government expects that banning the nine platforms and their variants will scoop up close to 1,500 different models in the country, totalling tens of thousands of individual firearms. In addition to the nine platforms, prohibitions are expected to be placed on guns with a muzzle energy exceeding 10,000 joules, which would snare .50-calibre sniper rifles, and those with calibres in excess of 20 millimetres, a rare grade of firearm that includes some grenade launchers. “Those are the only two prohibitions that make sense,” said A.J. Somerset, author of Arms: The Culture and Credo of the Gun and a former gunnery instructor with the Canadian Forces. “They seek to ban things around specifications. Going after individual models perpetuates the same failed approach." Mr. Somerset said that prohibiting specific models resembles a push in the 1990s to crack down on semi-automatic assault-style rifles under then-prime minister Jean Chrétien. Rather than passing comprehensive legislation, the government of the day sought to stamp out “military-style assault weapons” by identifying gun models through order-in-council. According to RCMP briefing notes, the orders-in-council were intended to be updated continually as new guns arrived on the Canadian market. For the most part, that never happened and gun manufacturers easily switched production to firearm models that circumvented the regulations. “As soon as they prohibit one model, other models will become popular – it's whack-a-mole,” said Alan Voth, a gun forensics consultant and retired RCMP firearms analyst. Mr. Voth said the 1990s prohibitions made Canada's classification system so convoluted that regional RCMP forensics labs would often disagree with one another over how certain firearm models should be classified. The government eventually centralized classification duties in Ottawa, in part to overcome regional discrepancies. Unlike the coming ban on specific assault-style weapons, the buyback program, and further gun-control measures being prepared by Ottawa, will need to be enacted through new legislation and are only scheduled to take effect next year. It remains unclear how much the buyback program will cost, but Ms. de Groot said the Liberals “grossly underestimated” the cost when they provided a $250-million price tag during the election. In a statement, Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus accused the government of using the “immediate emotion” of a recent mass shooting in Nova Scotia to “make major policy changes” such as the ban on assault weapons. The NDP and the Bloc Québécois both said they support a ban of assault weapons. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended the timing of the ban on Thursday, explaining his government was nearly ready to introduce the gun-control measures when Parliament suspended its regular activities in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-liberals-set-to-break-promise-to-buy-back-all-assault-weapons-in/