20 août 2024 | Local,
The Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, is in Inuvik for a three-day visit to highlight Canada’s Arctic-focused defence policy update, Our North, Strong and Free, and to meet with municipal, territorial, and Indigenous officials
5 décembre 2024 | Local, Terrestre
First of all, good afternoon friends. May I also extend a warm welcome to all of you who have travelled here to Halifax.
2 octobre 2019 | Local, Sécurité
Liberty Defense Holdings Ltd., a leading concealed weapons detection solutions company, announced that it has signed a collaboration agreement with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) to beta test HEXWAVE. GTAA operates Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, west of Toronto in Ontario. Toronto Pearson is Canada's largest airport facility, welcoming 49.5 million passengers in 2018 alone. Toronto Pearson will be the first airport to partner with Liberty to test HEXWAVE. “Aviation security has been a key driver of the development of new security technologies and services globally, helping travelers to feel safe in an ever-changing threat environment,” said Bill Riker, CEO of Liberty Defense. HEXWAVE uses 3D radar imaging and artificial intelligence, primarily to detect and identify weapons, as well as other threats and anomalies. It enables security teams to detect these threats at the perimeter of a property without obstructing the movement of large groups of people. HEXWAVE enables a layered defense strategy, which provides security teams with more time to manage threats. “It is not our intention to replace the existing security measures in airports, but to extend the security perimeter of aviation facilities by providing security between the curb and airport gate, which is a great example of how a layered defense approach can be implemented. Furthermore, HEXWAVE's ability to operate in both indoor and outdoor environments further enables the security parameter be expanded, in combination with its modular and scalable design, which will help make transportation infrastructure, such as airports, safer,” added Riker. “The GTAA is committed to a proactive security philosophy that stays ahead of emerging threats across our aviation infrastructure to minimize risk for passengers, employees and property. We track emerging technologies with the goal of balancing our operational security needs with overall customer service to make moving through Toronto Pearson a positive experience,” said Dwayne Macintosh, Director of Corporate Safety and Security for the GTAA. This beta testing phase is a key part of HEXWAVE's development process. The incremental testing of the system in actual facilities can help to ensure that the product is aligned with market requirements. “HEXWAVE caught my attention with its capability to detect both metallic and non-metallic objects and the flexibility for its deployment across the airport. We work with our partners to evaluate their products and evaluate how they can complement our operational reality. We're excited to work with Liberty Defense to see how we can make HEXWAVE a success at Toronto Pearson,” added Macintosh. This beta testing phase is a key part of HEXWAVE's development process. Testing the system in operational and diverse facilities can help to ensure that it is aligned to market requirements. Beta testing is expected to begin later in 2019 and progress into 2020. Liberty will also beta test HEXWAVE at FC Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena in Germany, Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., Maryland Stadium Authority's Camden Yards Complex, in the state of Utah, with the Virginia Division of Capitol Police, in Sleiman shopping centers, in a Hindu temple, and in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/liberty-defense-to-test-hexwave-at-toronto-pearson
16 janvier 2019 | Local, Naval
Murray Brewster · CBC News Association puts pressure on Liberals to direct new projects to Davie yard A Quebec-based business association claiming to represent over 1,000 companies inside and outside the province is launching a high-profile campaign to convince the Liberal government to reopen the oft-maligned National Shipbuilding Strategy. The group is demanding the federal government include the Davie shipyard, in Levis, Que., in the policy and plans to make it a major issue in the October federal election. The Association of Davie Shipbuilding Suppliers, which has been around for about a year, represents companies that do business with the shipyard. It plans an online campaign, beginning Thursday, and will lobby chambers of commerce as well as federal and provincial politicians. It is hoping to use its extensive membership and thousands of associated jobs to put pressure on the government in an election year to direct the building of additional coast guard ships exclusively to the Quebec yard, one of the oldest in the country. The shipbuilding strategy, conceived under the previous Conservative government but embraced by the Liberals, has turned into a giant sinkhole for federal cash with little to show for it, Simon Maltais, the association's vice-president, told CBC News. "We can call it a boondoggle," he said. "It has been seven years in the making. At the moment, there is absolutely no operational ship afloat and working for Canada." The Conservatives under former prime minister Stephen Harper chose two shipyards — Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax and Seaspan in Vancouver — as the government's go-to companies for the construction of new warships and civilian vessels. The Davie shipyard was, at the time, emerging from bankruptcy, and under the strategy it only became eligible for repair and refit work on existing vessels and perhaps the construction of smaller vessels. Delays and cost overruns Irving and Seaspan have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in modernizing their yards and have just begun to produce new vessels. The first Arctic offshore patrol ship for the navy is being outfitted in Halifax and others are in various stages of construction. Three offshore fisheries science vessels, constructed in Vancouver for the coast guard, are undergoing repairs after defective welds were discovered last year. The entire program has been beset with delays and rising cost estimates. Last year, Public Services and Procurement Canada refused to release a revised timeline for the delivery of ships from Seaspan, including construction of a heavy icebreaker and the navy's two joint support ships. Politics and shipbuilding Maltais said it makes no sense to keep excluding Davie from full-fledged ship construction work when much of the coast fleet is over three decades old and in dire need of replacement. Refreshing the strategy would insure the federal government gets the ships it needs and Quebec companies "get their fair share" of the program. "We know it's an electoral year and, yes, we want the federal government and the people in the election to talk about it," he said. Maltais clams members of his association have been talking to federal politicians on both sides of the aisle in the province and they support the idea. "They seem to be on the same page as us," he said. Defence analyst Dave Perry, an expert in procurement and the shipbuilding program, said the political campaign has the potential to make the federal government uncomfortable, but he doubts it will achieve the objective of reopening the strategy to add a third shipyard. "That would certainly be a major change in the strategy," he said. "There had been a view of doing something less than that." The proposal being put forward by the association would not take any work from Halifax or Vancouver, but instead direct all new work, on additional icebreakers for example, to the Quebec yard. Just recently, Davie was awarded a contract to convert three civilian icebreakers for coast guard use, but the association argues the need is greater. The federal government did debate an overhaul of the strategy, according to documents obtained and published by CBC News last summer. The size and scope of the "policy refresh" was not made clear in a heavily redacted memo, dated Jan. 23, 2018. So far, nothing has taken place and government officials have insisted they were still committed to the two-yard strategy. During the last election campaign, the Liberals pledged to fix the "broken" procurement system and invest heavily in the navy. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/business-group-wants-national-shipbuilding-strategy-reopened-for-quebec-shipyard-1.4979592