5 mars 2018 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
By Murray Brewster, CBC News
The new federal budget focuses on ones and zeros over tanks and troops by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into new and improved cyber and national security defences.
Several federal departments will not only see upfront cash but promises of long-term spending to counter both the threat of hackers — state-sponsored and otherwise — and cyber-criminals.
National Defence, by comparison, is seeing virtually nothing in terms of new spending on the nuts and bolts of the military, other than initiatives outlined in the recently tabled national defence policy.
The 2018 budget is, on the surface, a tacit acknowledgement that the nature of threats to national security — the nature of modern warfare itself — is changing.
The budget recycles the government's $3.6 billion pledge last December to provide veterans with the option of a pension for life and better services.
But cyber-security was, by far, the headline national security measure in the budget.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau's fiscal plan sets aside $750 million in different envelopes — much of it to be spent over five years — to improve cyber security and better prepare the federal government to fend off online attacks and track down cyber-criminals.
More for CSE
It also promises an additional $225 million, beginning in 2020-21, to improve the capacity of the country's lead electronic intelligence agency, the Communications Security Establishment, to gather foreign signals intelligence.
The Liberals will soon pass new national security legislation — C-59 — and CSE will receive important new powers and responsibilities to disrupt global cyber threats.
"These are brand new tools. They're going to need lots of resources — technological resources, personnel resources — to engage in those kinds of operations," said Wesley Wark, a University of Ottawa professor and one of the country's leading experts on cybersecurity and intelligence, in an interview prior to the budget.
The sense of urgency about getting the country's cyber-security house in order is being driven in part by the fallout from Russian hacking and meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, said a former assistant parliamentary budget officer.
"With what we've seen south of the border, I think cyber-security and cyber-threat has been elevated in this budget to a high-priority item," said Sahir Khan, now the executive vice president of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy.
The budget creates two new entities to deal with online threats.
The first, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, will assemble all of the federal government's cyber expertise under one roof — a plan that will require new legislation.
The second organization will be run by the RCMP and be known as the National Cybercrime Coordination Unit.
It will coordinate all cybercrime investigations and act as a central agency to which the public can report incidents.
The budget also includes cash for Public Safety's National Cyber Strategy, which not only aims to protect federal government networks but is meant to collaborate with the corporate financial and energy sectors to boost their defences.
Military procurement a work in progress
The budget's dearth of new spending on the real-world military — at a time of significant global insecurity — is due to reasons that are partly political and partly organizational, said Khan.
The former Conservative government's inability to deliver on promises of new equipment during its nine-year tenure was a political "albatross around its neck," he said.
The Liberals may have produced a clear defence policy but they have yet to straighten out the procurement system, he added.
The Trudeau government has promised a lot of military capital spending down the road. Khan said it seems determined to keep the issue out of the spotlight in the meantime.
What's missing from the new budget is a clear commitment that National Defence will get the cash it needs as those needs arise.
"I think there was a lot of clarity in the policy direction coming out of the government [defence] white paper," said Khan. "What a lot of us are trying to understand is whether the money ... is accompanying that change in direction ... so that DND has a stable footing to meet its needs."
He said he still has questions about whether promised future spending on fighter jets and warships has been baked into the federal government's long-term fiscal plans.
A senior federal official, speaking on background prior to the release of the budget, insisted that military capital spending is welded into fiscal plans going forward into the 2030s.
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said repeatedly, since the strategy was released last June, that the defence plan was "fully costed" into the future.
Up until 2016, National Defence produced an annual list of planned defence purchases.
The Liberals promised to produce their own list of planned acquisitions and table it this year. Khan said it "needs to be presented to Parliament and the public."
Training and retaining?
The cyber initiatives in Monday's budget drew a mixed response from the high-tech sector.
On the one hand, the Council of Canadian Innovators praised budget signals that suggest the Liberals are open to dealing with home-grown companies rather than buying off-the-shelf from major U.S. firms.
"The imperative to build domestic cyber capacity is not just economic. It's existential," said Benjamin Bergen, the council's executive director.
"Without a domestic capacity in cyber we risk becoming a client state. Innovators welcome the announcement of a new Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, which will allow for information sharing between the public and private sector."
What the budget didn't offer was a clear commitment to training and retaining highly-skilled software engineers and IT professionals.
"We would have liked to have seen a retention strategy. There wasn't one," said Bergen. "We know Canada produces amazing graduates but we're struggling to keep that talent here."
The council estimates there will be up to 200,000 job openings in high-tech by 2020, which will put pressure on the industry and on the federal government as it bulks up its cyber capability.
Adam Froman, CEO of the Toronto-based data collection firm Delvinia, was blunt when asked if the federal government will be able to fill all of the cyber-security job openings created by this budget.
"They're not going to be able to. Plain and simple," he said. "Or they're going to have to outsource those jobs to foreign companies."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-budget-2018-cybersecurity-1.4552967
6 avril 2022 | Local, Aérospatial, Sécurité
Canada wants to ensure that future air accident investigations are credible and transparent, including in conflict-of-interest situations.
13 novembre 2019 | Local, Aérospatial
Industry winners of three annual awards recognizing aerospace achievement, innovation, and excellence were honoured at the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada's Canadian Aerospace Summit. The 2019 winners are: James C. Floyd Award – Marc Parent, CEO of CAE Industry Excellence Award for Lifetime Achievement – John Saabas Industry Excellence Award for Small Business Innovation and Technology – Avior Integrated Products “The winners of this year's awards are champions of Canadian aerospace whose vision and achievements have strengthened the industry, making it more innovative and competitive both in Canada and in the global marketplace,” said Jim Quick, president and CEO of AIAC. “We are proud to celebrate their achievements, and on behalf of AIAC's board of directors and members, I thank them for their leadership and dedication to our industry.” About the Winners: James C. Floyd Award – Marc Parent, CEO of CAE Marc Parent is the CEO of CAE Inc. Under his leadership, CAE went from a company that was heavily in debt and trailing its competitors to one that is today the foremost provider of aviation and healthcare training services in the world. A true Canadian success story on the world stage, CAE has customers in 190 countries and over 10,000 employees around the world (nearly half of them in Canada). Parent is also a passionate champion for Canadian aerospace success. He has served as chair of AIAC and Aero Montreal, and he has participated in numerous government round tables and advisory boards to promote Canadian aerospace growth and achievement. Under his leadership CAE has offered nearly 3,000 co-op and internship positions to Canadian students, and through his efforts as part of the Business-Higher Education Roundtable (BHER), it is estimated that 2,500 students across the country will have access to similar work-integrated learning opportunities. His efforts to create a culture of openness and diversity resulted in Randstad naming CAE Canada's 2nd best employer brand in 2018, and in 2019 CAE launched Women in Flight, a scholarship program that encourages more young women to become pilots. Named after the chief designer of the Avro Arrow, the James C. Floyd Award recognizes visionary individuals or teams whose outstanding achievements have contributed to the success of the Canadian aerospace industry. The 2019 award was sponsored by Bell Helicopter Textron Canada. Industry Excellence Award for Lifetime Achievement – John Saabas Holding a PhD in aerodynamics from McGill University, John Saabas spent 35 years at Pratt & Whitney Canada, including the last ten years as president, until retiring from the company earlier this year. His legacies of innovation, sustainability, and collaboration have had a profound impact on Canada's aerospace industry. Under his leadership, Pratt & Whitney Canada achieved a leadership position in all markets, with a portfolio of more than 64,000 engines in service and 13,000 customers worldwide. It certified over 100 engines during a 25-year period, and it expanded and transformed its global manufacturing capabilities, developing operations in China, Poland, the Mirabel Aerospace Centre, and the advanced manufacturing cells. Over the 10-year period of Saabas' leadership, his visionary commitment to greener, more sustainable aviation industry led to significant reductions by Pratt & Whitney Canada in greenhouse gas emissions and industrial process waste, non-recycled waste and water consumption. The company also launched the PW800 business aviation engine, which achieved double-digit improvements in fuel burn, emissions, and noise. As an industry leader, Saabas sought to leverage innovation and research to advance change in aerospace, and championed collaboration between all players of the Canadian aerospace cluster – including small and medium sized companies and universities — as an essential part of the industry's competitiveness. The Lifetime Achievement award is presented to an individual whose distinguished lifetime achievement through the exploration, development or utilization of aviation, space, or defence have led to their wide recognition as a “champion” of aerospace industry. Winners are celebrated for their outstanding leadership, commitment, promotion and consistent contribution to the continuous development of aerospace in Canada. The 2019 award was sponsored by L3Harris. Industry Excellence Award for Small Business Innovation and Technology – Avior Integrated Products Avior Integrated Products is a full-service manufacturer of lightweight structures and complex mechanical assemblies. The company has leveraged its fabrication capabilities in advanced composite details and complex machined components to become a competitive Tier III/II integrator of aircraft structures. Avior customers include leading aerospace manufacturers including Boeing, Bell Helicopter, Bombardier, Mitsubishi and Viking. In providing a competitive solution for its customers the company has invested significantly in creating a culture of innovation and introducing new technologies. In the last two years Avior commissioned its first robotic machining center, with another to follow shortly; launched its own Business Intelligence software system; converted two of its three business units into paperless production environments; and more recently, installed a collaborative robot to assist with certain shop-floor operations. The company's culture of innovation is supported by a dynamic team focused on execution and providing nimble and effective solutions. The transformation of the business is an on-going process and will include the introduction of AI technology in the administration areas of the company in the coming year. Avior has grown by 35 per cent in 2019 and is forecasting 20 per cent growth in 2020 in large part due to the benefits of transitioning to an Industry 4.0 business. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/winners-of-2019-aiac-awards-honoured-at-canadian-aerospace-summit
29 mai 2024 | Local, Terrestre
Today, at the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries’ annual defence industry tradeshow (CANSEC), the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, announced significant investments to equip the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) with new, state-of-the-art platforms for training and operations at home and abroad.