Thank you for listening to Depiction's Media Radio. Welcome to Policy Rights to show
about government policy and human rights. Welcome back to Policy and Rights here in
Depictions Media Radio, I'm your host, Michael Cloggs. In Sudan, UM
war has broken out, extreme violence. UM. There have been reports in
some of the refugee camps, especially UM the well known Darfur that UM housing
areas have been showered with with bullets as as the violence continues and people are
are fleeing along with that UM. We're while we're going to hear in a
few minutes from UM the Minister of Defense talking about UM upgrades to helicopters and
also she's going to be asked questions about UM evacuation from Sudan. And just
within a few hours there have been reports of mechanical failures to aircraft that UM
that are on route to Canada from Sudan, UM that Turkish flights have been
shot at, and there's just a lot of trouble of evacuating the Sudan and
trying to get those who who went there on humanitarian efforts to get get people
home safely. And while UM the civil unrest settles back down and humanitarian efforts
can be can reconvene, but for now all just about all of the humanitarian
efforts have been put on pause, and evacuations of aid work have uh have
begun just a few days ago, and uh the Canadian flights UM have had
trouble so far getting out and getting people to safety. UM. So we're
gonna hear um from the Minister of Defense as she talks about in a press
conference about upgrades to to helicopters and equipment for the US military, and how
the Canadian military is uh doing the doing more than um then what is truly
expected of them, and how the um the the military is achieving the things
that they want and and as in need of equipment for peacekeeping operations. So
we're going to hear from her. She's in Nova Scotia and she is talking
about upgrades to Canada's nine on behalf of our entire Impero Space team and family
here. It's a distinct pleasure for us to welcome you all to our Halifax
Space Operating Unit. Our planned sequence for this morning's event will be as follows.
First speaker will be mister David Gossen, President Impero Space and Defense.
He'll have some opening comments and then introduce our Minister of National Defense, Minister
an End Minister and Nan will have a statement and she'll be followed by mister
Dominic Howe on behalf of Leonardo Helicopters, and our closing speaker will be mister
Cody Boys MP. Following our speakers and as the last element of our event
this morning, there'll be an opportunity for members of the media to ask questions,
and so with that in mind, I'd respectfully asked all of you to
hold your questions until our steam guests for our steam guests until their comments are
complete. Thank you again and welcome. And with that, I'd like to
ask mister David Gassin, President of IMP Aerospace in Defense, to address the
gathering. Awesome get started. I'm sure you'll all know with this is a
workable hangar. Typically there's lots of airplanes, lots of disassembled airplanes. That's
what we do for a living. By to you and your team on fairly
short notice for cleaning up the hangar and turning it into a beautiful showcase of
two wonderful airplanes, showcasing the type of work we do. I appreciate all
you've done in the last couple of days, and to everyone who was involved
in setting up for this event. Heartfelt thank you to all of you.
As Mike said, my name is David Gossin. I've been in the industry
a long time, actually forty years. I started when i was thirteen and
no laughing. I'm obviously passionate about the industry and passionate about what we do
for a living and our role in supporting the Canadian Department of National Defense and
our international customers. I've worked in the industry at many levels. I've worked
from my early days in the contracts department up to becoming president of the organization.
I'm a former chair of Air Industries Association of Canada. I'm still an
active board member former board member of KATSIE. It's safe to say I'm very
passionate about the industry and I've seen a lot of changes over the years and
in the twilight of my career. The most important thing is to make sure
the industry continues to grow and prosper, certainly in Nova Scotia and prosper across
the country. Sovereignty of our fleets in Canada is critically important and I've spent
my whole adult life ensuring we as a company have done everything we can to
ensure we continue to support our principal customer. A bit about IMP We're a
private company, and as private company you typically tend to be somewhat quiet,
secretive. We don't put a lot of information out. A lot of people
don't know what we do. We've been around for a long time. We've
been in business as an industry in Nova Scotia since the early nineteen hundreds.
We've been supporting aircraft plates, principally maritime airplanes. If you think about all
the airplanes we've supported since the early nineteen hundreds or World War Two, we've
supported all of the maritime patrol airplanes that Canada has had. You can go
back to the days of the Lancaster, the Neptune, the Arragus and of
course the latest and greatest CP one forty and we hope the next generation long
range patrol airplane. So we have deep roots in the community as an industry.
It's not by happenstance that we're in Nova Scotia. It was a strategic
decision. Canada has had a longstanding policy where the work has been spread out
across the country. We are strategically located on the east coast of Canada,
located close to our main military wings, Greenwood and Shearwater. We're close to
support the war efforts in Europe. So maritime airplanes, if you go as
far back in time as you want, traditionally been done on the East coast
of Canada, fighters in Central Canada, and of course transports been traditionally done
oh West. We are truly a center of excellence for mirrortime aircraft in the
east coast of Nova Scotia. Now over and beyond what you see in this
facility, we've got a six operating units at imp Impiero Space which Mike runs.
It has ten hangars scattered across Burns Road, seventeen hundred employees scattered across
Nova Scotia and Burns Road. We've got facilities in Hammond's Plains, Nova Scotia
where we do electrical assemblies. That facility does some pretty unique stuff. It
does a lot of design and development. When what's particularly interesting is they designed
and built lots of space highness ry. They designed and built all the electrical
assemblies for the International Base Station. They've done most of the electrical assemblies for
the Radar SAT constellation, James Webb telescope. Kind of a hidden secret tucked
away in Hamma's plane Nova Scotia. We've got an aerostructure's facility in Amerus Nova
Scotia that does structural components and composites. They've been around since the early nineteen
hundreds. They actually built airplanes to support the war effort. Pre remarkable history
for that company. And of course we have the search and rescue program.
That's what we're going to talk about, and the Minister will have a lot
more to say about that in the coming minutes. Now, respect to the
programs we support today for the Apartment of National Defense, we support the Snowbirds,
the iconic Snowbirds. We do that in Trenton on the East Coast.
We support the P three's, we support C one thirties, and of course
we support the Cormorants and our West Coast operations. We support C one thirties.
We're designated as one of only two heavy maintenance centers in the world for
the C one thirty Jays. We're the only P three authorized Lockeed Martin's service
center in the world. So we've got lots of designations. We've been fortunate.
We've done lots of domestic work and lots of international work. What's important
in our business is our work we do with our domestic governments, and I
think i'd like to acknowledge that in front of the Minister and thank the Minister
for the wonderful partnership we've had for many years. Minister, we've been very
fortunate to support the Department of National Defense for many, many years, and
all the success we've had domestically and internationally is because of the partnership we've had.
Just on the other side of this wall, there's five US Navy Marine
Corps one thirties. If we weren't supporting the Canadian Fleet of C one thirties,
we would have never had an opportunity to do that work. And that
story can be told with respect to the P three's and all the other fleets
we've supported over the years. Our partnership is greatly appreciated and it's been an
enduring partnership and we hope it goes on for many years to come. So
what are we doing today? Briefly out of Mike's facility, our P three
Aurora, As we know it in Canada. It's just gone through a significant
midlife update. Looks great, lots of life in it. Transformed from a
traditional wairplane to an ISSR command and control and a very modern aswairplane. We
recognize one day it will be replaced, but today it's still providing Yeoman service
Cormorants we continue to support. It's a fleet we're extremely proud of. It's
a no fail platform. The nature of what that aircraft does on a daily
basis is rescue people in distress. I think as an industry we have a
gold standard. Our partnership with Leonardo has been for twenty three years. They've
been a tremendous partner Dominic. We appreciate all your company does. I think
we're extremely proud of the relationship and I think we can both say what we've
accomplished here in Canada is the gold standard for Cormorant search and rescue. We
have in Canada, the lowest cost of ownership, the highest availability. On
a fleet of thirteen aircraft. We actually have over one hundred and ten thousand
flight hours in twenty three years. That is remarkable and I won't say too
much more about that because I know the Minister has some exciting news she's going
to share with us, So in closing, I just want to take a
moment and thank all the im payers. I've been fortunate in my career.
I've worked with some pretty amazing people. The work you do every day is
truly inspiring. If you look at our safety record, and if we look
at the hundreds, if not thousands, of aircraft we've delivered over the years,
our second our safety record is second to none. The quality of work
you do is the envy of our competitors, and I know is very much
appreciated by our principal customer, the Department of National Defense. I can't thank
you enough. Every day. It's been a pleasure to come to work and
and and I hope I'm not going anywhere in the short term. I hope
I have the privilege to keep leading you. It's it's a wonderful team and
I've had a remarkable thirty nine year career working with you all. Now that's
probably more than enough for me. I think i'd like to stop now and
maybe introduce the Minister one of ours. He's actually a very proud Nova Scotian.
It's great Minister to have you come back and visit us. I know
you've spent many years. You were born in Nova Scotia. You're one of
your many degrees, it is from Dalhousie University. It is truly a pleasure
to have you back in our facility. As an executive, I followed your
career and I can tell you I'm extremely pleased and impressed with the way you
represent the country. It's a very complicated and difficult world we live in.
You're a wonderful ambassador for Canada. Extremely proud every time I see you representing
us in the difficult times we face. The war in Ukraine is not easy
on certainly the Ukrainians and certainly everybody who's supporting it. I'm proud of everything
you're doing and our government's doing to support that effort. So Minister, I'll
stop there and turn the mic over to you, and thanks for coming to
shareless exciting news for us. Well, good morning everyone, Sata. Thank
you so much, Dave, and it's a beautiful day to be back in
Nova Scotia. Before we get to today's announcement, however, I would like
to provide a quick update on Canada's efforts to evacuate its citizens from Sudan.
I can confirm that a first Canadian evacuation flight from Sudan has taken place using
an RCAF CC one thirty hercules aircraft. We will have more details to share
soon. This is very good news and I thank our Canadian Armed Forces personnel
for their hard work to make this happen. About Le poi sieur le d
can adapt or Vaque City du Suda Comte came Premier Canadian Elie I led the
NABA cis Saint rant de la Royal Canadien uz bianto apartagi me il sagi dun
bonne nouvelle merci le personnel de farce areme Canadian pour leur travai a Charchney mac
Ludi Scour, Ambassador Ferrari, friends from the British High Commission. Where are
you there? You are Cody partners from Leonardo UK, Leonardo, Canada.
I am Piero Space in defense Cae collins Ge. Good morning, bonjours.
It's such a pleasure to be back in Nova Scotia. As Dave mentioned,
I was born and raised in Nova Scotia. My parents immigrated here. My
sisters and I grew up not far from here in kentfill Nova Scotia, and
as a young girl, Nova Scotia was where my world started and ended from
Halifax to Amherst, to Kentfiel to Yarmouth. Nova Scotia is home our country.
Nova Scotia included, is blessed with eighteen million square kilometers of land and
water, or so two hundred and forty three thousand kilometers of coastlines connecting these
oceans. Montaigne escarpe fare dains condicion mitra legique artique. This vast terrain requires
our military to work in challenging environments, and when Canadians are in danger from
extreme weather conditions, stranded in remote areas, on steep mountain sides or alongside
our coastlines, the ability to search and rescue becomes a necessity. Now.
One of Canada's critical search and rescue assets is the one forty nine Cormorant helicopter,
providing long range, weather resilient search and rescue capabilities. The helicopter can
face and fight through the harshest Canadian terrain lascleute saint press e cule Canadian on
Besoine jined vitale lusiage Saint carond neeff E Siluis Canouza palon an Emperquel Mooma an
Emplentois. The fleet has been serving Canada since two thousand and one, but
requires upgrades to remain operationally effective, and that is why we are investing in
enhanced capabilities to ensure that our Canadian armed forces continue to have the tools and
technology that they need to carry out their demanding work. Last December, I
announced that our government has awarded two contracts to upgrade and extend the operational lifestyt
than of our one forty nine Cormorant search and rescue helicopter fleet. With a
one point one six eight billion dollar investment with Leonardo UK Limited, the fleet
will be upgraded to the most advanced version of the helicopter and will acquire additional
parts to increase its fleet size from thirteen to sixteen aircraft. Now today,
we are taking another step forward with Leonarder's some contract partnership with IMP Aerospace and
Defense to undertake the upgrade of thirteen in service one forty nine Cormorant search and
rescue helicopters at the facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Under this subcontract,
IMP will deliver thirteen of the sixteen upgraded Cormorants to Canada from its Halifax facilities.
Leonardo a imp von Fournier des mise a Nivo technology. The points o
Cormorant existence e per metran e galmin esque l'an samble de la flotte sois en
comformite avec la versien la plus avancais de la ll coptare. The upgrades are
going to include modernizing navigation communication, flight management, flight recorder and safety systems,
improved sensor capability and in cabin wireless communications. Notre avestisment augment e galmin
latai global de la detres assays le trois avience sub utilist pis de notre ventre
actual telecles trans missions. Let's sage this is going to help reduce costs and
ensure a prudent investment. And I firmly believe that national security and economic prosperity
go hand in hand. Can news a vestisan defrance a ug mountain no capacity
siletravare Canadian key on benefice. This investment is no different. The helicopter project
has the potential to contribute almost seventy nine billion dollars annually. To our economy
and six hundred and fifty jobs annually for Canadian companies over a twelve year period
from Gander to Greenwood to Halifax. This project will create meaningful economic partnerships with
communities across this great country. And this investment is a win for Canadian workers.
It's a win for industry partnerships. With the partnerships between Leonardo IMP and
our other industry partners, we are ensuring a renewed defense relationship for years to
come. A date, as Dave mentioned, the first three helicopters will be
completed at Leonardo's UK facilities. IMP personnel will undertake on the job training in
the UK, and they'll come back to build the remaining thirteen helicopters right here
on Canadian shores. This is effective industry partnership in action. This contract is
going to create relationships between our workers, companies and our defense innovation ecosystems.
And most importantly, this is a massive wind for the Royal Canadian Air Force,
who will have enhanced technologically advanced capabilities to continue their work keeping us all
safe. La stasion a lexpasien de notre flot pematran la erci de continue effectuisperracian
rocherche a sauftache d'antute de contision met logique, the comaques a gander, a
greenwood tutans ajutin capaciti de rocherche a sauftache to Canada a la witiam escatre Trenton.
So, my friends, whether it is in dense forests, whether it
is in remote mountains, whether it is in rough terrains, Canadians can count
on our aviators in the new nine fleet to answer the call and get them
to safety. Congratulations once again to Leonardo IMP Aerospace and Defense and to the
Canadian Armed Forces. Thank you. Marcibokuts, good morning. I'm delighted to
be here today on behalf of Leonardo in joining the honorable Minister and and remember
Parliament voice, friends from the UK Government, Ambassador Ferrari and of course our
team Corment partners. The Corment Midlife Upgrade PODIAT shall have either dedicated and brave
Royal Canadian Air Force with a highly capable search and rescue helicopter that meets the
all weather demands of the Canadian landscape in addition to the challenging rescue scenarios that
they may face. The announcement made by the Department of National Defense in late
December twenty twenty two towards Leonardo with the aw one O one one four nine
Corment Midlife Upgrade, comprising sixteen helicopters in total, thirteen of which are the
existing Corment Search and rescue helicopters that are in service a day being managed and
supported by imp together of an augmentation of the further three aircraft. This is
a most welcomed investment. Furthermore, the award of the Training Flight Simulator to
CIE, which Leonardo is a subcontractor, is an important investment. This will
allow an onshore capability training capability for the Royal Canadian Air Force. The CMLU
contract will significantly enhance the aircraft systems and technologies, ensures compliance with the emergent
airspace regulations, will extend the life expendency of the aircraft to twenty forty two
and beyond, and importantly enable the return of the Corment helicopter fleet to Canadian
Forces Base Trenton. The Corment Midlife Upgrade contract shall also introduce new technology and
mission sensors, enabling the Royal Canadian Air Force to execute their missions with greater
efficiency through less search and more rescue. Importantly, the Corment midlife upgrade projects
should also be delivered without impacting the current Corement search and rescue capability that is
present today. The AW one O one one four nine Comment fleet has provided
reliable services to Canada since two thousand and one. During this time, the
Corment helicopter and its brave crews as successfully completed bowers as of rescues, including
several that have received international recognition as well as awards. Leonardo is very pleased
that Corment has been trusted to provide the capabilities to ensure these rescues were possible
in anywhere the condition anywhere in Canada, from coast to coast to coast and
far offshore. Through this contract award between the Canadian Government and Leonardo, the
current fleet would now be upgraded to the most advanced version of the helicopter.
This could not have been possible though, without the dedication and support from our
Quay partner, ip Aerospace and Defense, as well as other Team Comment partners
ce G Canada and Colins Aerospace Canada all have come together together with additional Canadian
suppliers to provide a robust search and rescue solution to Canada. Leonardo's really pleased
to announce that has placed a subcontract onto IMP for the upgrade of thirteen of
the Sixteenment Midlife Upgrade helicopters to be undertaken right here in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
This includes the relevant program management, logistics, support engineering activities as well
as the manufacture of electrical loom harnesses and the cument of Canadian supply equipment.
Leonardo should be providing IMP with knowledge, transfer of training capability as well as
intellectual property to allow the aircraft to be built here. The IMP Aerospace and
Defense and Leonardo's long standing relationships shall continue for the foreseeable future. Together with
a subcontract placed with IMP Aerospace and Defense, Leonardo shall be investing one of
the Midlife Upgrade project contract value in Canada with other Canadian suppliers. This will
include research and development, business, small medium businesses as well as academia.
Leonardo is a committed partner of Canada and remains so who is continued investment into
the future. Thank you very much. Well, let me just say this,
what a hell of a day for Nova Scotia. We had great yep,
absolutely my name is Scodie Bloys. I'm the Member of Parliament for King
Sans and by the time you get down the line to me, you've heard
all the technical details. So let me take this at a high level and
we can talk about what this really means for our province and indeed for our
country. But before I go too much further, let me recognize our distinguished
guests who are in the room, certainly our friends from the United Kingdom and
Italy. Welcome to Nova Scow. We hope you come back and next time
you come back. Of course, we always love to have really good defense
announcements. And look, I don't know if we can compete with Italian wine,
but I would, ambassador, love to welcome you to King's Hands and
you can come see some of the wines we have in the Annapolis Valley.
The Minister and I are headed there actually this afternoon. I don't know if
we're going to get into a bottle of wine, but I welcome you to
come back anytime. Good look to our guests, to our minister, and
it was well stated that Anita hails from Kentfell. We're really proud in King
Sans the fact that we get to have someone from our backyard and only represent
Oakville, not only represent Ontario, but represent Canada on the world stage.
And on paper, yes, we have eleven members of Parliament in Nova Scotia,
but in principle we have twelve because the way that Anita represents not only
her own writing in Oakville, but represents this country and indeed does not forget
where she comes from, which is right here in Nova Scotia. And that
is evidenced by the work that we're doing here today to help make an investment
that's going to make a difference for the Canadian Armed Forces, but it's going
to be about the workers here in Nova Scotia. And if we've learned anything
in the last year, it's about the importance of capacity. The Minister spoke
about that, not just only in search and rescue, but also in the
capacity for our Canadian Armed Forces to have the tools to make sure that we
can defend our sovereignty and to be able to work with our allies. And
I just want you to take a moment, all of us here in this
room, just look around, look at the hangar. Look David, I
haven't had the opportunity to be in here. I'm ashamed to say, and
I only live fifteen minutes down the road, many Nova Scotians, indeed many
Canadians, would not be able to see the amazing work that goes on.
But look at the size and scope of what is being delivered here at imp
here in Nova Scotia, and the Minister and I have had the opportunity to
be at the shipyard at Irving Shipyard to see the work that is going on
on the naval side of contracting and procurement defense Here in this country. It
matters because in the last year it's taught us that we have to have that
capacity at home. We have to be able to work with our allies in
concert to make sure that we have an ability to respond to a change global
environment, because that is, frankly, what has happened over the last year.
Today's announcement on the search and rescue side is but one example of where
the government is making those moves. Minister, We're proud of your leadership in
Parliament. We're proud of your leadership on what is a very nuanced portfolio and
the work that you're doing internationally with our allies and indeed here at home makes
a difference and It makes a difference, not only because we're going to be
making sure the tools are upgraded, but it protects important jobs here in Nova
Scotia. And I've seen my buddy David Evans over there. We call him
Taft down at Shooters baron Grill and Enfield. David's from the UK and we
have a lot of UK influence here at the facility. You know, David
and I have had an opportunity to talk about how he came from the UK,
came from England, has built a life here in Nova Scotia, continues
to put really important work into these types of aircraft that help make a difference
for our personnel every day. So look, we've got a lot of folks
here that are not necessarily from IMP. I want to give a big round
of applause to the men and women who actually put the work in. I
don't know how you do it, David, but I know you do it
well and your team, so big round of applause, perhaps everyone for the
folks air at IMP. I'm going to leave it at that. We've heard
politicians go on sometimes too long. I used to joke with my predecessor,
Scrap Bryce and that he if you couldn't get the microphone of that man's hand.
But the key point here is this, we're upgrading infrastructure that makes a
difference for our Canadian armed forces. We're making sure that those investments are supporting
jobs here in Canada, here in Nova Scotia, and we're working with our
international partners to make sure that we can share best practices in a changing worldview.
It's a huge win for all of us here today Nova Scotia. Thank
you minister, Thank you David and Dominic for your great work and to our
workers. We can't do it without you. Thanks so much. And with
that, UM, thank you. There'll be the opportunity for media to ask
questions. I'll turn things over to h to Daniel, thank you very much.
We'll now take questions from media. UM Emily in the back as a
microphone. So if you would like to ask a question, please raise your
hand UM on on a p punt because you're not gonna one. Do you
have any questions? Good, good morning, minister, Good good morning,
Minister Brett Ruskins, CBC News, thank you for being here for this announcement
of votes about searches and rescues. There we go, Hello, Now you
can hear me. Minister Brett Ruskin, CBC News, thank you for being
here Vote and Search and Rescues. Hoping to ask you about a rescue underway
right now that you mentioned earlier with this flight out of Sudan. Can you
give us any more details about how many folks may have been on this flight,
where it departed, from where it landed. As I mentioned, I
can confirm that the first Canadian evacuation flight from Sudan has taken place using a
Hercules aircraft and we have one of these right beside us here today. There
will be more details to share soon. We are operating almost in real time
and I want to make sure. We want to make sure that we have
all the details in place. But make no mistake, this is very good
news and it is very important to recognize the work of the Canadian Armed Forces
personnel to make this happen. As you know, we had prepositioned to Hercules
aircraft in the region yesterday anticipating that we would be able to bring Canadians out.
We needed to make sure that conditions are safe and secure on the ground
and that we had space on the airfield. That's actively occurring right now and
will continue to occur, making sure that we have the conditions that are in
place for not only the flight that I have mentioned, but additional evacuations that
we are planning over the next number of days. There are a number of
challenges on the ground given the very volatile situation in Sudan, and it is
for that reason that we're not only working very hard as a country in terms
of the Canadian Armed Forces, in terms of global affairs Canada in contacting Canadians,
for example, but we're also working very hard with our allies and our
partners, and we have seen the ability for that relationship to continue to allow
the extraction of Canadians, first our diplomats and now over one hundred and eighty
Canadians evacuated overall. This is an ongoing process and will continue to share details
as we have them. Thank you, follow up question and before that,
if you'd like to, if you'd like to give some of those comments.
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just part news dont le jour and just from my follow up. Thank you
very much for English and French. But I know it's day by day and
you mentioned there might be other flights. There's been previously the talk that after
this week flights might be more difficult, we won't be able to get flights
out. How much of a deadline at this point is this week for flights
and for Canadians to get out? Thank you. So we are continuing to
work given the volatile situation, and we're working as quickly as possible as I'm
sure you have seen and can see today to ensure the evacuation of as many
Canadians as possible, as soon as possible. We have Canadian Armed Forces Strategic
Advisory Team as well as military liaison officers deployed to Djibouti to support the evacuation
of Canadian based personnel from the Canadian embassy, as well as to coordinate with
our allies about continued evacuations for a non combatant evacuation operation. That first flight
of the Canadian Armed Forces that has now left Sudan is an example of the
planning that has been going on behind the scenes over the past number of days.
And as I mentioned, we have two hundred half deployed to the region
to assist with this line of effort and to continue supporting Canadians. And I
want to stress that we are pursuing all options. The situation is extremely dangerous
in Sudan and key civilian infrastructure is necessary for any evacuation of non combatants.
In this situation, the power the communication are intermittent, food and water shortages
are widespread, and so it requires our Canadian Armed Forces planners to consider all
options for evacuation other than by aircraft. All these, although these may pose
additional risks. The majority of Canadian citizens are in the capital and movements by
ground or by sea significantly increase the time during which they would be exposed to
risk. Nevertheless, we do have HMCS Montreal and asked her US previously deployed
on op Projection in the vicinity ready to assist. So, as I said,
all options are on the table. Planning is occurring as we speak to
ensure the maximum number of Canadians can be evacuated as soon as possible. And
I'll leave it at that, Thank you. Thanks, We'll go to the
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Good morning, Minister Francis Campbell with the Chronicle Herald. So in November
you announced a new NATO Defense Innovation Accelerator Office to be located in the Health
ex Regional municipality. I was just wondering if you had any updates on that
in particular site where it might be located. Well, thank you for the
question, Francis. For the benefit of everybody in the room. The question
relates to a defense and Innovative Innovative Accelerator initiative that NATO is launching and that
Canada is hosting. And in November, when I was in Nova Scotia,
I announced that this province would host the Defense and Innovation Accelerator for NATO,
and there are others in the world. The UK and Estonia are partnering on
another such defense and Innovation center and so the work to ensure the specifics and
the details relating to this defense and Innovation center is ongoing. We are in
close coordination with NATO to finalize the work that needs to be done to establish
this center. But make no mistake, Canada is committed and has committed to
ensuring that this center gets up and un We have another such center on climate
change in security that is going to be established in Montreal and that is also
a NATO Center of Excellence. So, as you can see, Canada is
very closely tied with NATO on the establishment of these centers. We are founding
member of NATO, and we'll continue to do work on the ground to reiterate
that commitment here in Nova Scotia with the Defense and Innovation Center, and of
course in Montreal with a Climate Change in Security Center. Thank you, thank
you, Thanks everybody. Okay, we'll take We'll take one final question and
then hi, thank you for fitting me in. Jonathan Ginn a CTV News.
What can you tell us about the value of this contract to IMP and
what it might mean in terms of maintaining or potentially adding to the workforce here.
Okay, I'll offer some preliminary comments and then maybe asked Dave if he
wants to add anything that I probably missed. So, the work that IMP
does for the construction and maintenance of defense equipment for our country is extremely important,
and the significance of the subcontract that we are here to announce today is
part and parcel of that work that IMP has shown over the years that they
are capable of performing. The subcontract award is going to ensure that IMP is
front and center in terms of the upgrade of the Cormorants. Thirteen of the
sixteen cormorants are going to be constructed and built right here at the Halifax facilities,
and as I mentioned, it's significant not just for the capabilities of the
Canadian Armed Forces, especially in terms of search and rescue, but it's also
important because of the economic contributions seventy nine million dollars annually to Canadian GDP and
supporting six hundred and fifty jobs annually for Canadian companies over a twelve year period.
What this does is demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that national security and economic
prosperity go hand in hand. That is something that we can not underestimate.
We have to recognize that as we continue to invest in defense and security,
whether it is in terms of the increase by seventy percent under our current defense
policy, Strong, certain, Secure and Engage, whether it's as a result
of the eight billion dollars in addition to that increase in budget twenty twenty two,
whether it is because of the thirty eight point six billion dollars that we're
investing in nor AD modernization. All of that enveloped funding is important for the
capacities and the capabilities of the Canadian Armed Forces and the defense and security of
our country. But it's also important because it means that economic benefits will accrue
to industry in this country also, and we need to make sure that we
recognize the benefits of our work in defense to the broader Canadian economy. And
so this is an example today, This announcement today is an example of just
that principle that national security and economic prosperity go hand in hand, and that
we will see those economics benefits play out right here at IMP and in the
broader Canadian economy. Hello, Minister, I wonder sorry, I guess just
to follow up the second half of your question. I think the Minister answered
it quite well. As an IMP executive, this is an important win for
US. It's a strategic win. First and foremost, it will create hundreds
of jobs. That's always important. Secondly, it increases our technology base.
We are now moving up the supply chain Leonardo. In partnership with Leonardo,
they will work closely with us. We will send technicians, engineers to the
UK. There will be embedded in Leonardo's facility. They will bring home that
know how and they'll position us for future work. What's also important is not
just the eight year program where we're going to essentially build eight pard Me thirteen
new helicopters, it positions us to support the fleet for the next twenty five
years. We will essentially become the subject matter expert on the new fleet.
That can't be emphasized enough. When I was chair of AIIC, we always
encourage the government when they make these generational investments. It's critically important that we
get economic value up from those investments. And as Minister and Anne said,
this investment Canada is made in search and rescue. It's a great new story.
It's a great new story for the Royal Canadian Air Force. They're going
to get the latest generation search and rescue world class helicopter. It will create
a wonderful work for IMP and it will position us for more international work and
to continue to support the fleet for the next twenty five years. And it's
a great investment for the taxpayers. When I was a i C chair,
those are the investments that we very much like to see. So now I
think Minister an n in the Canadian government for you continuing to make effective investments
to upgrade our capacity and country, because it's not just about spending money and
industry. Of course, we've got a service the Royal Canadian Air Force,
but to take that investment and create economic value for US as an Asian and
I believe this investment very much does that. Thanks, and we'll just take
one final follow up question for we wrappings up, Hi, minister, it's
it's for the minister. It's a Keith you said from the Canadian press,
good news announcement today. We know what you're intending to do with the forces.
But we were told by the Canadian forces yesterday they were so they were
spread so thin that they had planes in the Arctic, Okinawa and elsewhere.
And when the US started doing airlifts in Khartoum. So what does it say
about our current spending if countries like Jordan and Turkey can get planes moving to
Sudan evacuations before weekend? Okay, well, thank you for the question.
Although I could barely hear you, so um, I appreciate the question.
So what we need to do with Canadian Armed Forces assets? When there is
need, we deploy the assets in that particular region. So let me take
an example of aid to Ukraine. We have over the past many months ahead
three CC one thirties in Preswick, Scotland, and those aircraft have been lifting
military aid and equipment on behalf of all of our allies in support of the
unjust war in Ukraine, and those three aircraft have delivered over eight million pounds
of military eight. That is effective work that our Canadian arned forces are undertaking
with incredibly important capabilities. When this crisis broke out in Sudan, we made
a decision to deploy two of those CC one thirties to the region so that
we can respond to the needs on the ground. And what we are doing
is working in lockstep with our allies at all times. And we're able as
a result of our work with our allies to extract our diplomats as soon as
possible. And now over one hundred and eighty Canadians and now we have a
first flight that has left Sudan with capabilities on the ground in terms of the
two CC one thirties as well as two ships in the harbor in that region.
So in any countries inventory, there is a need to place assets where
the needs are the greatest, and that's exactly what we are doing. In
terms of our overall resources. We are continuing to do the work necessary to
create a Canadian armed forces that is robust in terms of personnel as well as
military equipment that is enduring. And that's why you saw the announcement finalized for
eighty eight f thirty fives for the Royal Canadian Air Force. That's why you
have seen a thirty eight point six billion dollar investment in Norad modernization and continental
defense, with nineteen projects specifically identified on the website of the Department of National
Defense so that the Canadian population can see where we are doing our building.
So rather than focusing on the fact that defense spending dipped below one percent under
the last government, we choose to focus on the work that we need to
do every single day to continue to allocate the funding that has been granted under
various envelopes to the projects necessary to build up the Canadian Armed Forces capabilities as
well as to respond okapasible to emerging global situations. And before we came into
this room, someone said to me, Canada is punching above its weight.
And that's exactly what is happening. Whether we're talking about NATO's Eastern Flank,
where we have eleven hundred Canadian Armed Forces deployed and where we have our largest
international operation, whether we're talking about aid to Ukraine, where we've put on
the table over one billion dollars and we are a leading donor amongst the G
seven countries and eight billion dollars to Ukraine overall. Or whether we're talking about
continued coordination in building up continental defense, there's work to do, but make
no mistake, we are doing that work. Okay, So we heard from
what then the Minister of Defense for Canada hads to say and in a brief
statement from the United Nations, they're saying that thousands of people um Sudaneds,
including many internally placed people in refugees in Sudan, have fled the country and
the un HCR spokesperson said in Chad together the government has registered around five thousand
arrivals so far and at least twenty twenty thousand people have crossed the border from
Sudan into Chad. So uh, there's mass fling as as violence escalates in
Sudan over well, what has been political unrest for quite some time now.
So thank you for listening to policy and rights here in Depictions Media Radio and
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