July 20, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Why it is time for smart protectionism

Put simply, Canadian governments have a responsibility to practise smart protectionism where the risks to Canadians' personal security and national security are high.

Free trade is good economics. Protectionism is bad. Global supply chains are efficient. Favouring domestic goods, services and industries is inefficient. Canada has long adhered to these orthodoxies. And most of the time it makes sense to do so. However, through the COVID-19 pandemic, both the public and private sectors have seen weaknesses associated with heavy or total reliance on foreign sources and global supply chains for essential goods, notably personal protective equipment (PPE). As of June 2, for example, the Government of Canada had ordered close to 122 million N95 masks from international suppliers, yet 12 million had been received and 9.8 million of those failed Canadian standards. We are learning the hard way that foreign sources cannot necessarily supply the products we need in the time, quantity or quality required during a national or global emergency. China, as the dominant global producer of many of these PPE supplies, has become the focal point for an emerging debate around domestic control over certain goods, technologies, and services. A recent report from the Henry Jackson Society in the U.K., for example, has argued the “Five Eyes”—the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand—are far too reliant on Chinese sources for all kinds of strategically important goods, and that this is a threat to the national security of those countries. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, too, has warned that Canadian companies that produce certain critical technologies are vulnerable to foreign takeovers by entities with agendas hostile to Canada's interests. This is not just an issue with China, though. In Canada, we like to believe that in national or global crises we can rely on the U.S. or other allies for help. Canada, in other words, would be at or near the front of the line with allies. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the behavior of the U.S. and European countries, suggests this is naive. Italy, a founding EU member, requested and was denied face masks from the EU's stockpile at the peak of their COVID-19 outbreak. In April, a presidential executive order gave the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency the power to “allocate to domestic use” several types of PPE that would otherwise be exported. U.S. produced masks bound for Germany, a close American ally, were reportedly diverted back while in transit. Ultimately, Canada was exempt from the U.S. order, but this episode should tell us that global emergencies can lead to “home front comes first” attitudes, even among our closest allies. Fundamentally, the issue comes down to one of efficiency versus necessity. Sometimes, in some areas of the economy, security of supply is more important than efficiency. While this thinking is new to most companies and governments in Canada, it is not new to Canadian companies working in defence and national security. The Canadian defence industry has long highlighted the need for focused sovereign production and control in key national security capabilities—in part to ensure security of supply—as our allies in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere have been doing for generations. The argument has fallen largely on deaf ears. There seems to be a greater aversion in Canada to any kind of protectionism than among our more pragmatic allies. There is also a belief that Canada can always rely on obtaining critical supplies from the U.S., owing to both our close trading relationship and bi-lateral defence agreements dating from the 1950s that purport to establish an integrated North American defence industrial base. Canada puts too much faith in these beliefs, to our peril. While we can still hold free trade and integrated global supply chains as the goal, we also need to recognize that this view of the economy does not always serve our national interests. Put simply, Canadian governments have a responsibility to practise smart protectionism where the risks to Canadians' personal security and national security are high. Christyn Cianfarani is president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI). The Hill Times

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On the same subject

April 1, 2020 | Local, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Important notice about CANSEC 2020
Ottawa (March 31, 2020) - Christyn Cianfarani, President and CEO of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries, today issued the following statement regarding CANSEC 2020. Good afternoon, It goes without saying that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our businesses, communities and our families close to home and around the globe. Over the last few weeks, CADSI has been working hard to determine what this means for our community and the events we produce for you. Today, I announce that we have made the difficult decision not to host CANSEC in 2020. As a result, we are now working hard to make CANSEC 2021 – which will take place June 2 and 3 at Ottawa's EY Centre – the best CANSEC ever. CADSI staff have begun reaching out to our members, specifically exhibit managers and sponsor reps, as well as partners and suppliers to provide details on next steps. Please stay tuned to your inboxes for more information. If you do have questions, please email cansecsupport@defenceandsecurity.ca. We are all hands-on deck to manage your inquiries, but it may take us a few days to get back to you. Please continue to be patient with us and we will respond to every inquiry as soon as we can. As you can imagine, this was a difficult but necessary decision. We know how important CANSEC is to our members, to our government and military partners, and to the broader defence and security community. It's more than a trade show; it's a time for us to come together as one and strengthen the community tasked with keeping Canada and the world safe. We also understand that this decision has taken longer to make than some would have liked. Let me share why. CANSEC is a large event with many moving parts. It has a $10 million impact on the local Ottawa economy and provides significant revenue for dozens of loyal suppliers that are struggling to deal with the economic fallout of COVID-19. Many of them are small businesses that rely on CANSEC as a key source of income. We took the time necessary to explore every possible option with the City of Ottawa, our partners, contractors, and suppliers to mitigate losses to our community and secure the long-term viability of CANSEC, which needs these partners and suppliers to be successful. We also took the time to think about our membership and the struggles it will face over the coming months. CADSI's prudent plans and budgets in recent years have placed us on a solid financial foundation for the situation we find ourselves in today. For this reason — and for the good of our community, our suppliers and our members — CADSI will refund 100% of CANSEC purchases paid by members to CADSI (e.g. sponsorship, exhibits, meeting suites), while respecting timely payments to our suppliers. Irrespective of whether CADSI will incur losses and changes to our business as a result of this decision, our commitment to our members remains the same. We are doubling down as the best advocates we can be for you in these tough times. We are also working hard to make CANSEC 2021 the best CANSEC ever. Thank you to all stakeholders who came to the table in the spirit of partnership as we made this decision, and to our members for your patience and understanding in this time of uncertainty. Many of you have been busy contributing to Canada's response to COVID-19 here at home and around the world. You have made us proud, and we cannot wait to reconnect with you – in person – at CANSEC 2021. Sincerely, Christyn Cianfarani President & CEO, CADSI Posted 2020-03-31 Last Modified 2020-03-31 14:22
May 12, 2020 | Local, Aerospace

RCAF transport aircraft withdrawn from United Nations service because of COVID-19
David Pugliese • Ottawa Citizen The Canadian military has pulled back its commitment of a transport aircraft for the United Nations. The C-130 service to the UN stopped on March 6 and personnel redeployed back to Canada, UN and military sources told this newspaper. The Canadian military confirmed the information. “In light of the COVID-19 pandemic situation worldwide, and given the strict isolation measures imposed by Uganda for crews arriving in the country, it is anticipated that the crew's and the aircraft's availability for operations in Canada would be severely limited,” the Canadian Forces stated in an email Thursday. “The CAF has therefore deferred the April-May combined iteration, and the feasibility of the iteration scheduled for 25 June-6 July 2020 will be reassessed at the beginning of June.” Starting last year the Canadian Forces committed a tactical airlift detachment on a monthly basis to Entebbe, Uganda to assist the UN's Regional Support Centre in the sustainment of ongoing UN operations. That involved a C-130J Hercules aircraft and about 20 personnel. The aircraft deployed for up to five days each month to assist with transporting troops, equipment and supplies to the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). “Operation PRESENCE – Uganda is the provision of that tactical airlift support via the Regional Support Centre in Entebbe, Uganda, to UN peacekeeping operations in Africa and is an important part of Canada's commitment to making valuable contributions to UN peace support operations on the continent,” the military has noted on its website. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/rcaf-transport-aircraft-withdrawn-from-united-nations-service-because-of-covid-19/
January 10, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

Used Australian F-18s heading to Canada will be a mix of single and dual seat aircraft
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The Canadian Forces is preparing to take possession by the spring of the first of 25 used Australian F-18 fighter jets. Eighteen of the Australian aircraft will be flying while another seven will be used for testing and spare parts. The Department of National Defence has provided more details on the types of aircraft Canada is acquiring. “The requested mix is 12 A-model (single seat) and 6 B-model (dual seat) aircraft; however, this is subject to adjustment,” said Department of National Defence spokesman Dan Le Bouthillier. The final mix will be dependent on a number of considerations, including the condition and availability of aircraft, he added. The dual seat aircraft will be used for training, Le Bouthillier noted. The additional fighter jets will be used to augment operations and training. One of the first things that will be done to the used Australian F-18s that Canada is purchasing is that the aircraft will be outfitted with different ejection seats and software. The first two F-18s that Canada is buying from Australia will arrive sometime in the spring and will be sent to Cold Lake, Alta, Pat Finn, assistant deputy minister for materiel at the Department of National Defence said. “They land, they (the Australians) will remove their software and we'll install our software,” Finn explained in an interview. Also to be installed are ejection seats and a lighting system that is used on the CF-18s. “Ultimately the intent is the 18 aircraft are indistinguishable from our 76 aircraft,” Finn said. Canada has finalized its deal to buy the 25 used fighter jets from Australia, https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/used-australian-f-18s-heading-to-canada-will-be-a-mix-of-single-and-dual-seat-aircraft

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