12 juin 2020 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Experts say COVID-19 hasn’t hurt Canada’s campaign for UN security council seat

By Rachel Emmanuel. Published on Jun 12, 2020 12:00am

Experts say COVID-19 hasn't negatively impacted Canada's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), though the final result is still anyone's guess.

The UN General Assembly will vote on June 17 on what countries will join the powerful body as non-permanent members for two-year terms. Canada is facing stiff competition from Norway and Ireland, who both entered the race earlier, to fill the two Western European and other states seats.

Adam Chapnick, deputy director of education at the Canadian Forces College and a professor of defence studies at the Royal Military College of Canada, said the coronavirus pandemic has changed Canada's narrative in the race — it can now portray itself as a large, wealthy country capable of helping smaller, less affluent nations emerge from the COVID-19-induced economic downturn.

“We have more money to give and as a result we can demonstrate, in a time like this, the value of having us at the centre of global power,” he told iPolitics on Thursday.

“[The COVID-19 pandemic] has allowed Canada to highlight some of the factors that differentiate it from its competitors, in a way that it would otherwise not have been able to do.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced Canada would pursue a seat on the UNSC back in 2016, just months after the Liberals bounced the Harper government from power. An outline of Canada's campaign is displayed on the Global Affairs website and points to commitments like addressing climate change, promoting economic security and advancing gender equality.

While Canada announced its campaign long before the global COVID-19 pandemic, Andrea Charron, an associate professor and director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba, said the crisis could end up benefitting Canada's bid. Coming out of the coronavirus pandemic, she said Canada can signal that they'll be there to help struggling countries as they recover from their own economic crises.

“It does no good if some states recover beautifully and others fall hopelessly behind,” Charron said.

Like most other public gatherings, the vote will also be impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. In other years, all delegates would show up to UN headquarters in New York City and vote in person, with each round of voting taking a couple minutes.

But this year, because of the pandemic, Chapnick said delegates now have a designated time to arrive and voting in the first round will take around 10 hours. Because a country requires two thirds of the vote to be elected, Chapnick said delegates will likely be asked to return to the building to vote again the following day or days, in the case that two countries aren't elected in the first round, which he said is probable.

At a certain point, Chapnick said delegates might stop showing up to cast their ballots, with the bid becoming a “get out and vote campaign” that would never happen in a normal election year.

“We've never had anything like this before,” he explained.

Charron, who's also a Canadian Global Affairs Institute fellow, said it will be interesting to see how countries revamp their second ballot strategy, which refers to a country's plan to win the second seat if they didn't win in the first voting round. She said in a typical election, all the delegates are milling around and candidates can easily speak with particular countries in a last minute push to win their vote. However, because of COVID-19 restrictions, countries won't have quick access to make their case to the 192 UN delegates in one room.

Chapnick said this new process has major implications for the second ballot strategy. Traditionally, he said Canada has had trouble creating a second ballot strategy because, as a G7 country, it assumes it will win in the first round. He said Canada is committed to the UN and views itself as a country that belongs on the security council, whereas smaller countries may ask to be considered in the second round if they lost to a more powerful country in the first run.

“For a G7 country normally to have a second ballot strategy would suggest weakness,” he explained.

But, by entering the race late, he said Canada now has wiggle room to develop a second ballot strategy — it can ask countries who pledged support to Norway or Ireland before Canada entered, to vote for the country in the second round, if there is one. Chapnick also said the Canadian team can spend the longer gap in between rounds calling delegates and asking for their support.

Still, he warned that there's a “discount rate” of 15 to 35 per cent of countries who promised the Canadian government they'd vote for them, but won't. He said even the Canadian government cannot be sure who's voting for them.

“Countries lie all the time,” he said.

In fact, Chapnick said part of the reason the countries are voting in-person is because a number of countries refused to participate in electronic voting at the risk that someone could hack the system and realize a country broke their voting promises. He said countries break promises in one of two ways; countries make individuals deals to support all three countries but can only vote for two, or the head of government makes a promise and the ambassador then goes “freelance” when it comes time to vote.

“You can never actually tell how a campaign is doing,” he warned. “Really strange things happen in these elections.”

Charron said the good news is that all the UNSC candidates are excellent. She said there's concern that Canada will let this election define itself, with lots of national “gnashing of teeth” and deciding on the fate of the government in general, which she said is overblown.

“It's just one of the organizations to which we belong,” she said. “We've won six times, we've lost times, we've survived, carried on in all cases.”

https://ipolitics.ca/2020/06/12/experts-say-covid-19-hasnt-derailed-canadas-campaign-for-un-security-council-seat/

Sur le même sujet

9 janvier 2020 | Local, Aérospatial

New air defences needed in wake of Iran attack, Canadian Army says
BY LEE BERTHIAUME THE CANADIAN PRESS The launching of Iranian missiles against a base housing Canadian soldiers in Iraq has highlighted a long-standing deficiency for the Canadian Army: the inability to defend against air attacks such as aircraft, rockets and drones. Iran on Tuesday fired missiles at two military bases in Iraq, including one near the northern city of Irbil that has housed Canadian troops for more than five years as part of the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. No one was injured in the missile attack, which was in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani by a U.S. drone last week. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed Wednesday that Canadian soldiers were at the base at the time of the Iranian attack. Canadian troops in Iraq and elsewhere are routinely deployed with allies who have what are called “ground-based air defences,” or GBADs in military parlance, which can include everything from missile interceptors and anti-aircraft guns to electronic jamming devices and lasers. But Canadian Army spokesperson Karla Gimby said the Iranian missile attack nonetheless demonstrated why a new air-defence system is one of the army's top procurement priorities. “Iran launching missiles underscores the need for militaries — and the Canadian military — to have GBADs,” Gimby said Wednesday, though she added: “It is too early to tell if recent events will impact the GBAD procurement timeline.” Successive Canadian Army commanders have raised the lack of air defences for front-line troops since the military retired the last of its anti-air weapons in 2012. However, efforts to acquire a new system have been stuck in neutral for years. The Department of National Defence is not expecting delivery of a new system until at least 2026, which is projected to cost between $250 million and $500 million. Officials have previously suggested that part of the problem is trying to figure out exactly what threats the system will be designed to counter, particularly given rapid advances in technology. In a recent interview with The Canadian Press, Canadian Army commander Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre referenced Iran's use of drones to attack Saudi Arabia's largest oil facility in September as one new airborne threat on the battlefield. “No army in history has gone to war with all of the resources that it wanted, all the capabilities that it wanted,” Eyre said. “That being said, GBAD is one of the ones that I am most concerned about because it is not just a capability shortfall, it's a capability gap. We don't have it.” When the Canadian military put away the last of its anti-air weapons in 2012, it was on the assumption that Canada and its allies would have air superiority in any battle and not have to worry about airborne attacks, said defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. “The Taliban never had any of that kind of stuff. (ISIL) really didn't have any of that kind of stuff,” Perry said. “So we've been deploying in places where it hasn't been a problem.” The Iranian attack demonstrates the importance of Canadian troops on the ground being able to protect against airborne threats, he said. https://globalnews.ca/news/6382675/iran-attack-canadian-army/
22 octobre 2020 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité, Autre défense

Canada jumps closer to military-spending target thanks to COVID-19's economic damage
The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Canada has taken a big leap closer to meeting its promise to the NATO military alliance to spend a larger share of its economy on defence thanks to an unexpected assist from COVID-19. New NATO figures released Wednesday show that largely thanks to the pandemic, Canada is poised to spend the equivalent of more of its gross domestic product on defence this year than at any point in the past decade. That is because the alliance expects the Liberal government to hold Canadian defence spending steady even as COVID-19 batters the country's economic output. Yet defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute says the results are unlikely to appease the United States, as Canada continues to fall far short of its promise to NATO to spend two per cent of GDP on defence. "I think they'll be pleased to see positive momentum," Perry said of the U.S., "but it doesn't resolve their concern about where we are." All NATO members, including Canada, agreed in 2014 to work toward spending the equivalent of two per cent of their GDP — a standard measurement of a country's economic output — on defence within the next decade. The promise followed complaints from the U.S. about burden-sharing among allies and broader concerns about new threats from Russia and China as the two countries increased their own military spending. NATO and the U.S. have repeatedly criticized Canada for not meeting the target, with President Donald Trump in December calling Canada "slightly delinquent" during a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. His predecessor, Barack Obama, also called out Canada over its defence spending during an address to Parliament in 2016. The U.S. spends more than any other NATO member on defence, both in terms of raw cash and as a share of GDP. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday said the continued importance of increasing military spending would be discussed when defence ministers from across the alliance meet this week. The NATO figures show that Canada is poised to spend 1.45 per cent of its GDP on the military this year. That is not only a big jump from the 1.29 per cent last year, but the largest share of the economy in a decade. It also exceeds the government's original plan, laid out in the Liberals' defence policy in 2017, to spend 1.4 per cent of GDP on the military by 2024-25. That is when NATO members were supposed to hit the two-per-cent target. Yet the figures show the expected increase isn't the result of a new infusion of cash for the Canadian Armed Forces this year as spending is expected to hit $30 billion, up just over $1 billion from 2019. Rather, NATO predicts Canadian GDP will shrink by about eight per cent this year as COVID-19 continues to ravage the economy. The fact Canadian defence spending is expected to remain largely steady despite the pandemic is noteworthy, particularly as there have been fears in some corners about cuts to help keep the federal deficit under control. The NATO report instead appears to lend further credence to recent assertions from Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Defence Department deputy minister Jody Thomas and others that the Liberals are not readying the axe. Canada also remained 21st out of 29 NATO members in terms of the share of GDP spent on the military as other allies also got a surprise boost from the economic damage wrought by COVID-19. At the same time, Perry said the government has yet to lay out a timetable for when it plans to meet the two per cent target. Military spending is instead expected to start falling after 2024-25, according to the Liberal defence plan. Despite having agreed to the target during the NATO leaders' summit in Wales in 2014, successive Canadian governments have repeatedly described the NATO target as "aspirational." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2020. https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/news/canada-jumps-closer-to-military-spending-target-thanks-to-covid-19-s-economic-damage-1.24224303
2 octobre 2018 | Local, Aérospatial

HÉROUX-DEVTEK FINALISE L’ACQUISITION DE CESA ET MET À JOUR SES PRÉVISIONS
Longueuil (Québec), le 1er octobre 2018 — Héroux-Devtek Inc. (TSX : HRX) (« HérouxDevtek » ou la « Société »), un important fabricant international de produits aérospatiaux, a le plaisir d'annoncer la finalisation de l'acquisition de l'entreprise Compañia Española de Sistemas Aeronáuticos, S.A. (« CESA »), une filiale d'Airbus SE (PA : AIR). Le prix d'achat s'élève à 137 millions d'euros (soit environ 206 millions de dollars) pour la valeur globale de l'entreprise, y compris l'encours de la dette nette de CESA de 23 millions d'euros (environ 35 millions de dollars), sous réserve des ajustements de clôture habituels. « Nous sommes ravis d'avoir finalisé la plus grande acquisition de notre histoire qui représente une étape charnière de notre expansion à l'échelle internationale, » a déclaré le président et chef de la direction de Héroux-Devtek, Gilles Labbé. « L'acquisition de CESA nous permettra de renforcer notre présence sur le marché européen, nous donnera accès à un important contenu dans le cadre de plusieurs programmes d'aéronefs d'envergure et nous aidera à développer encore davantage nos relations d'affaires avec Airbus et d'autres clients importants. Nous sommes honorés d'accueillir l'équipe de CESA au sein de la famille Héroux-Devtek. » « L'acquisition élargit également l'offre de produits et services de Héroux-Devtek dans les domaines des systèmes d'actionnement et hydrauliques, en plus d'ajouter de nouvelles technologies, comme l'actionnement électromécanique, à notre portefeuille. Notre offre évoluera aussi, et 42 % de nos revenus seront désormais générés par des produits propriétaires, » a poursuivi M. Labbé. « De concert avec l'ajout de l'expertise complémentaire de Beaver dans le domaine des vis à billes, nous voyons d'excellentes occasions de développer nos activités sur le marché des systèmes d'actionnement, dont la taille est considérablement supérieure au marché des trains d'atterrissage, » a conclu M. Labbé. « Nous comptons maintenir notre relation d'affaires étroite avec CESA, qui demeure un fournisseur de grande importance pour Airbus, » a déclaré Fernando Alonso, chef de la division Avions militaires d'Airbus Defence and Space. « CESA et ses employés tireront profit du plan industriel solide du nouveau propriétaire stratégique au cours des années à venir. » La transaction a été financée au moyen d'un emprunt à terme subordonné non garanti de 50 millions de dollars d'une durée de sept ans consenti par le Fonds de solidarité FTQ, de la facilité de crédit renouvelable de la Société, ainsi que de l'encaisse disponible. Dans le cadre de cette acquisition, la facilité de crédit de la Société a été modifiée: le plafond d'emprunt a été augmenté, passant ainsi de 200 millions de dollars à 250 millions de dollars. CESA, dont le siège social est situé à Madrid, en Espagne, est l'un des plus grands fournisseurs européens de systèmes hydrauliques et électromécaniques destinés à l'industrie aérospatiale. Ses principales gammes de produits comprennent des systèmes d'actionnement et hydrauliques ainsi que des trains d'atterrissage. CESA propose une offre de produits et de services intégrée à un large éventail de clients et de programmes d'aéronefs : ingénierie de conception et de développement, certification, fabrication, assemblage et soutien de la flotte. L'entreprise exploite un parc industriel de pointe d'une superficie de 366 000 pi2 à Madrid et une autre installation à Séville. CESA emploie une main-d'œuvre qualifiée constituée d'environ 300 employés. MISE À JOUR DES PRÉVISIONS La direction met à jour ses prévisions à l'égard des ventes pour l'exercice 2019 afin de tenir compte de l'acquisition de CESA. La direction s'attend maintenant à réaliser des ventes de l'ordre de 460 millions de dollars à 470 millions de dollars pour l'exercice 2019, ce qui représente une progression d'environ 20 % par rapport au précédent exercice. Les dépenses en immobilisations devraient s'élever à environ 20 millions de dollars. La direction publie également de nouvelles prévisions de croissance à long terme de ses ventes qui tiennent compte de l'acquisition de Beaver complétée en juillet dernier et de celle de CESA. La direction s'attend à ce que les ventes de la Société pour l'exercice 2022 se situent dans une fourchette de 620 millions de dollars à 650 millions de dollars. http://www.herouxdevtek.com/fr-CA/nouvelles-evenements/communiques-presse/2018

Toutes les nouvelles