8 janvier 2019 | Local, Sécurité
David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
The Defence Department has cut down on its use of rodents and pigs for research and experiments but says realistic instruction for its medical personnel still requires live animals to be wounded during training and later killed.
In 2018 the department used 882 animals, such as mice, rats and pigs, for training and experimentation, down from the 4,000 animals used in 2009, according to figures provided by the Department of National Defence and government records obtained by Postmedia.
The animals are used by Defence Research and Development Canada for assessment of emerging chemical and biological threats and by military personnel for what is known as “live tissue training,” according to a 2016 briefing for Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance.
In such a scenario the animals are anesthetized and then wounded. Military medical staff treat the wounds in order to gain experience. After the training the animals are killed.
“The Department of National Defence currently uses live tissue where necessary to provide advanced military medical training for specific operational requirements,” the department stated in an email to Postmedia.
But the DND is trying to reduce the use of animals as much as possible by using different experimental techniques and making use of simulators that can replicate a human patient, according to the 2016 briefing note. That has allowed for the drop to 2,000 animals in 2015 from 4,000 in 2009, the documents noted.
“The life-saving experiences, confidence and skills acquired by our young medical technicians using live tissue remain critical components of their curriculum,” Vance was told.
Various animal rights groups have been trying over the years to convince the DND and Canadian Forces to stop any kind of testing on animals and to use the simulators instead. The Animal Alliance of Canada has an on-going letter-writing campaign to try to convince Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan to put an end to using animals.
The organization noted that Canada is one of the few NATO nations that continues to use animals. Most NATO countries are using high-tech simulators which, unlike animals, accurately mimic human physiology and anatomy.
In its response to Postmedia the DND stated that it is “actively working to assess and validate the effectiveness of simulation technologies as part of our objective to find equal or superior alternatives to live tissue training in casualty care training.”
It noted that Health Canada regulations stipulate that new drugs or medical techniques can't be used on humans without going through pre-clinical trials “that scientifically test their efficacy and toxicity using non-human models.”
The Canadian military has a long history of experimenting on animals, exposing them to various chemical and biological warfare agents and more recently developed weapons.
In the 1980s the use of animals became controversial after details of a number of military experiments were made public. Monkeys were used at defence facilities in Suffield, Alta., for experiments involving nerve gas antidotes. In 1983 researchers at the University of Ottawa made headlines after their experiments for the DND on dogs became known. Twenty specifically bred beagles were exposed to high levels of radiation to make them vomit. They were then killed and their organs removed for study. The DND research was aimed at finding a cure for nausea.
In 2012, Defence Research and Development Canada subcontracted testing of a new taser projectile to a U.S. university. The projectiles were fired at pigs, according to documents obtained by Postmedia outlining experiments on “conducted energy weapons.”
That same year, a study in the journal Military Medicine revealed that Canada was only one of six NATO countries still using animals in its experiments.
dpugliese@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/davidpugliese
8 avril 2022 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Le Canada va légèrement augmenter ses dépenses militaires au cours des cinq prochaines années et revoir sa politique de défense globale à la suite de l'invasion russe en Ukraine, a déclaré le...
7 décembre 2017 | Local, Terrestre, Sécurité
Le 6 décembre 2017 – 8e Escadre Trenton (Ontario) – Défense nationale/Forces armées canadiennes La nouvelle politique de défense du Canada, Protection, Sécurité, Engagement, réaffirme l'engagement du gouvernement à fournir aux femmes et hommes des Forces armées canadiennes l'appui et le matériel dont ils ont besoin pour effectuer leur travail. Aujourd'hui, à l'appui de cet engagement, le député Neil Ellis, au nom du ministre de la Défense Harjit Sajjan, a annoncé que la 8e Escadre Trenton est le premier emplacement à prendre possession des nouveaux véhicules d'incendie. Appelé véhicule aérien d'extinction des incendies, ce camion moderne fournit des capacités anti-incendie et est capable de procéder à des sauvetages et à l'évacuation de blessés à une hauteur de 35 mètres. Il est muni d'une plateforme de récupération des blessés, contrairement aux précédents véhicules. Ces véhicules ont été acquis dans le but de combattre les incendies sur des infrastructures modernes qui se trouvent dans les bases et les escadres, y compris des incendies dans les zones de confinement de carburant et de munitions. Ces nouveaux camions remplaceront certains des véhicules actuellement utilisés, qui sont en service depuis le milieu des années 1990, et qui ont excédé leur durée de vie utile. De plus, les véhicules s'ajouteront aux flottes de lutte contre l'incendie qui ne possèdent pas les capacités que présenteront les AFFV. Au mois de juin 2016, un contrat a été octroyé à la société Aréo-Feu, basée à Longueuil (Québec), pour fournir les véhicules. En tout, neuf nouveaux véhicules seront livrés aux bases et aux escadres partout au Canada. Le dernier AFFV devrait être livré au mois d'avril 2018, avec l'option d'en acheter trois autres. Citations « La modernisation du matériel auquel les Forces armées canadiennes se fient pour réaliser leur travail est une priorité clé pour le gouvernement du Canada. Je suis heureux de voir que les nouveaux véhicules aériens d'extinction d'incendie sont livrés aux bases et aux escadres partout au pays. » – le ministre de la Défense Harjit S. Sajjan « Ce sont d'excellentes nouvelles que la première livraison des véhicules aériens d'extinction d'incendie a lieu ici à la 8e Escadre Trenton. Surtout, ce sont d'excellentes nouvelles pour les pompiers et les travailleurs des services d'urgence qui se serviront de ce véhicule moderne au service de la communauté de la 8e Escadre Trenton. » - Neil Ellis, député de la baie de Quinte Faits en bref Ce contrat d'une valeur de 18,7 millions de dollars a été octroyé à la société Aréo-Feu, basée à Longueuil (Québec), à la suite d'un processus concurrentiel équitable, ouvert et transparent. Au total, neuf véhicules seront livrés sur les bases et dans les escadres partout au Canada, et le contrat comprend une option visant l'achat de trois véhicules de plus. La première livraison a débuté en novembre 2017 et la dernière est prévue pour avril 2018. Les bases et les escadres suivantes obtiendront chacun un nouveau véhicule aérien d'extinction d'incendie : 4e Escadre Cold Lake; 3e Escadre Bagotville; 8e Escadre Trenton; 19e Escadre Comox; 14e Escadre Greenwood; BFC Suffield; BFC Shilo; BFC Gagetown et BFC Esquimalt. Personnes-ressources Byrne Furlong Attaché de presse Cabinet du ministre de la Défense nationale 613-996-3100 Relations avec les médias Ministère de la Défense nationale Tél. : 613-996-2353 Sans-frais : 1-866-377-0811 https://www.canada.ca/fr/ministere-defense-nationale/nouvelles/2017/12/de_nouveaux_camionsdincendiepourlesforcesarmeescanadiennes.html
21 novembre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial
Murray Brewster · CBC News Fighter pilots, technicians are in short supply for Canada's fighter jets Canada's auditor general has shot down the Liberal government's handling of the air force's aging CF-18s in a blistering report that raises questions about national security, and even long-term safety, regarding the viability of the country's frontline fighter jets. Auditor General Michael Ferguson's fall report, tabled Tuesday, methodically picks apart the recent policy change at the Department of National Defence, which requires the military to have enough warplanes to meet Canada's commitments to both NORAD and NATO at the same time. From the get-go the policy was a non-starter, and the federal government knew it, said Ferguson. "The fighter force could not meet the requirement because National Defence was already experiencing a shortage in personnel, and the CF-18 was old and increasingly hard to maintain," said the audit. As of April 2018, the air force's CF-18 squadrons faced a 22 per cent shortage in technical positions — and a startling number of technicians were not fully qualified to do maintenance. Fighter pilots are also in short supply. The air force is losing more of them than it is training each year; among those who do remain, almost one third do not get the required 140 hours of flying time per year. At a news conference following the release of the report, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan conceded that personnel shortages were identified "early on" after the Liberals took over in 2015. "This is a problem we knew we had," he said, pointing the finger at budget cuts made by the previous Conservative government. "This is what happens when you don't put enough resources into the military." The extent of Liberals' own efforts to boost recruiting and retention of pilots and technicians in the three years since the election was the subject of some confusion Tuesday. A written statement from Sajjan said the government "will launch new efforts to recruit and retain pilots and technicians." During the news conference, the minister said the military's top commander had been directed to deal with the problem and that recruiting pilots is "a priority." Pressed for specifics on recruitment, Sajjan said he's "going to leave it to the experts to figure out." Proposed solution 'will not help solve' issues The auditor's report took issue with the Liberal government's strategy to fill the so-called capability gap by buying additional interim aircraft. The current proposal is to buy used Australian F-18s — of approximately the same vintage as Canada's CF-18s — and convert them for further use until the federal government completes the purchase of brand-new aircraft. This plan, the auditor's report said, "will not help solve either the personnel shortage or the aging fleet." Ferguson said an earlier, $6.3 billion plan to buy 18 brand new Super Hornet fighter jets on an interim basis would have been even worse — and the government was told so in no uncertain terms by the air force. "National Defence's analysis showed that buying the Super Hornet alone would not allow the department to meet the new operational requirement," said the audit. "The department stated that the Super Hornet would initially decrease, not increase, the daily number of aircraft available because technicians and pilots would have to be pulled away from the CF-18s to train on the new aircraft." The proposal to buy Super Hornets was scrapped last spring after the manufacturer, Chicago-based Boeing, angered the Trudeau government in a separate trade dispute involving the sale of Bombardier passenger jets. The Opposition Conservatives have long claimed the 'capability gap' was concocted by the Liberals as a way to push off a decision on a permanent replacement for the CF-18s. In the last election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged not to buy the F-35 stealth fighter, the preferred option of the Harper government. Sparring in the House The report led to sparring in the House of Commons, with the Conservatives seeing the auditor general's assessment as vindication. "Today's report confirms what we have been saying all along," said James Bezan, the defence critic. "Justin Trudeau deliberately misled Canadians by manufacturing a 'capability gap' to fulfil a misguided campaign promise, and in the process has put the safety and security of Canadians at risk." Sajjan, however, believed the report supported the government's position. "The report confirms what we have always known: The Harper Conservatives mismanaged the fighter jet files and misled Canadians for over a decade," he said. "The report confirms a capability gap exists, and started under the Conservatives." In fact, what the report said was that "Canada's fighter force could not meet the government's new operational requirement." It contained objective analysis of how many aircraft would be required to meet various contingencies. Fleet 'will become more vulnerable' Meanwhile, the auditor is warning that the Liberal government has no plan to upgrade the combat capabilities of the CF-18s to keep them current over the next decade while the air force waits for replacements. The last major refurbishment of the war-fighting equipment on the jets happened in 2008, and Department of National Defence planners have done little since because they had been expecting new planes by 2020. National Defence did not have a plan to upgrade the combat capability of the CF-18 even though it will now have to fly until 2032," said the audit. "Without these upgrades, according to the department, the CF-18 will become more vulnerable as advanced combat aircraft and air defence systems continue to be developed and used by other nations." The fact that the CF-18s are not up to date means they will not be able to operate in certain environments where the risk of surface-to-air missiles or advanced enemy planes is great. That, in turn, "would limit Canada's contribution to NORAD and NATO operations," Ferguson said. Sajjan said the department is looking at an upgrade to the combat systems. "We would love to be able to solve this problem immediately," he said. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/auditor-general-trashes-liberal-plan-to-keep-cf-18s-flying-until-2032-1.4912813