Canada Closes Out 2017 with Reduced Peacekeeping Numbers

By: Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press 


OTTAWA—Only weeks after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada was prepared to offer helicopters, aircraft and hundreds of troops to peacekeeping, the number of Canadians on UN missions reached a new low, new figures indicate.
Canada had a total of 43 peacekeepers deployed around the world at the end of December 2017, according to the most recent UN numbers, down from 62 in November of the same year.

The decline, largely the result of a reduction in the number of Canadian police officers deployed to Haiti, means Canada has fewer peacekeepers in the field than at any point since the 1950s.

That’s despite the Liberals having repeatedly promised to ramp up Canada’s contributions to UN missions — most recently by pledging equipment, troops and trainers at a peacekeeping summit that Canada hosted in November.

Canadian and UN officials say the two sides are working to identify when and where those pledges will be utilized, but they have declined to provide any timeline for when a decision will come.

Walter Dorn, an expert on peacekeeping at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto who has been tracking the numbers, said the current situation is shameful given the Trudeau government’s repeated promises.

“Canada is at its lowest level since Lester B. Pearson proposed the first peacekeeping force in 1956,” Dorn said. “This is hypocrisy, coming after the promises and lofty rhetoric of the Vancouver ministerial.”

The Liberals promised during the last federal election to renew Canada’s commitment to peacekeeping, and pledged in August 2016 to make up to 600 troops and 150 police officers available for future missions.

Canada had 112 peacekeepers in the field at the time of that promise.

Trudeau announced in Vancouver in November that Canada was offering helicopters, a transport aircraft and a 200-member rapid reaction force for use on UN missions, as well as trainers to help other countries with peacekeeping.

But aside from planning to base the transport aircraft in Uganda, the commitments did not come with any specifics.

Canadian and UN officials sat down to discuss specifics in December, sources have told The Canadian Press, but no decisions were made and Global Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defence are still weighing options.

Chief of defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance told The Canadian Press in November that the military and government would take their time identifying the right missions for Canada.

Vance compared the process of analyzing missions to building a puzzle, as military planners seek to match the troops and equipment Canada has on offer with the UN’s needs and any potential threats.

The 43 Canadian peacekeepers include 20 police officers, 14 military officers and nine “experts on mission,” which can include police officers, military personnel and civilians.

Six of those peacekeepers are women, including five police officers and one military officer — a problem, said Dorn, considering the government’s rhetoric on pushing other countries to deploy more women peacekeepers.

Canadian Bomb Experts help Iraqis clean up after fight with Daesh

By: BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH, Toronto Star

OTTAWA—A mission by Canadian military explosives experts in Iraq has been extended to help the country clean up the dangerous remnants of the battle against Daesh.

A Canadian Forces Griffon helicopter flies over a displaced persons camp near Erbil, Iraq on Feb. 20, 2017. Up to four Griffon helicopters remain in the region as well as two C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, a CC-150 Polaris air-to-air refueller, and up to 200 special operations forces. (RYAN REMIORZ / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Ottawa is weighing other military commitments as the Daesh fight enters a new stage but it’s already decided that the combat engineers who have been training Iraqi personnel in the safe disposal of explosives should remain in the country for several more months.

The Canadian soldiers — from the 2 Combat Engineering Regiment based in Petawawa — have been working since last fall as trainers at the Iraq Army’s bomb disposal school. That mission has now been extended to this fall, Brig.-Gen. Andrew Jayne, commander of Joint Task Force — Iraq told the Star.

“Every time the hostilities are over, the explosive remnants of war — not just mines — but unexploded ordnance are always a threat to the people, the soldiers,” Jayne said in a telephone interview from his headquarters in Kuwait.

American military officials say that this month alone, Iraqi security forces have destroyed more than 100 improvised explosive devices and other types of explosives.

“There is quite a focus on helping the Iraqis deal with this threat. That’s why we think this is an important contribution,” Jayne said.

Canada’s military contribution to the fight against Daesh — known as Operation Impact — has some 650 personnel deployed in Kuwait and Iraq. It includes a medical facility in Erbil, up to four Griffon helicopters, two C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, a CC-150 Polaris air-to-air refueller, and up to 200 special operations forces soldiers who advise and assist Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

While Daesh has been defeated on the battlefield, commanders caution that extremist fighters, hiding in the civilian population, will likely now turn to terror tactics.

“There are still remnants of ISIS who reside in a cellular structure who seek to bring instability to local areas, in particular population centers,” said Brig.-Gen. James Glynn, the U.S. officer who serves as deputy commanding general of the special operations joint task force for Operation Inherent Resolve.

“And that remains as it has for some time the focus of the Iraqi security forces and their counterterrorism forces specifically,” he told a briefing earlier this month.

That was echoed by Jayne who said that while the defeat of Daesh “came earlier than expected” security challenges remain.

“That’s why the coalition continues to evolve,” he said.

“Daesh no longer hold ground in Iraq but we do need to continue to support and train their people to deal with the aftermath. Dealing with those explosive threats . . . is part of that. But there’s also training for other groups,” he said.

Senior commanders are preparing recommendations to put before Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, in the near future and a political decision on the make-up of Canada’s military commitments to Iraq are expected soon after that. The mission is due to end in March 2019.

“There remains a lot of work to do to ensure a stable and secure Iraq. We’ve been considering . . . as part of the process, how the Canadian Armed Forces is going to move forward within that context,” Jayne said.

Canada suspended the training mission by special forces operations last October after rising tensions and clashes between Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

While the counter-insurgency has changed, Jayne said Canada’s current contributions, such as the medical facility in Erbil, are still needed.

For example, he noted that the pace of operations by the Polaris air-to-air refueller to support patrols by coalition fighter jets has not slowed.

“Planes still fly and cover forces on the ground and our numbers of fuel delivered keep continuing to grow,” Jayne said. “I haven’t seen that rate drop off.”

He said it’s the same for the two C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. “It’s nonstop. The aircraft go in, they pick up cargo, move it to the next location, pick up people,” Jayne said.

“I’m confident that the resources that we have here today are providing a valuable contribution,” he said.

Meanwhile, Canada is helping Iraq on the governance front too. Liberal MP Omar Alghabra, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, says he came away from a visit to Iraq optimistic about democratic reforms underway.

“Yes, security is still a threat but there’s a sense of optimism, a sense of promise, a sense of excitement,” the MP for Mississauga Centre told the Star.

Alghabra made a one-day visit to Baghdad where he was a keynote speaker at a conference on governance focused on a decentralized federal system of government in Iraq.

In his talks with local officials, Alghabra said he underscored the need for a governance system that lasts.

“Parliaments and politicians come and go but you need a system that works and you also need the population to have confidence in the system,” he said.

“The confidence really needs to be in the system as much as it is in the politicians,” he said Friday in a telephone interview from Istanbul.

He said he was encouraged by the steps taken so far as the government prepares a budget and sticks to a schedule for a parliamentary election in May.

“Don’t get me wrong, there are still a lot of challenges. I don’t think anyone is underestimating those challenges,” he said.

“But not only did I see willingness but I saw a roadmap and a desire to implement that roadmap,” he said.

Steve Coll: Canada Had It Right in Afghanistan

By: Steve Coll, The Globe and Mail - Opinions

Steve Coll is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars, a staff writer for The New Yorker and dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. His new book is Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2016.
In the tragedy of the American-led war in Afghanistan, a turning point was 2006, the year Canadian forces turned up in Kandahar expecting to keep the peace, only to become embroiled in a bloody fight with the Taliban. Neither NATO nor U.S. intelligence prepared Canadian commanders for what they encountered; if Ottawa had known how far the Taliban's comeback had progressed – and how ambitious its guerrillas had become – the minority government led by Paul Martin, which agreed to the deployment to Kandahar in 2005, might have declined the mission. Intelligence about the Taliban's revival and intentions surfaced too late, and even then, in too many quarters, it wasn't taken seriously enough.

Canadian, U.S. and Afghan army officers sit with local Afghan elders during a meeting in the village of Small Loi Kola in the Panjwai district on June 23 , 2011.
BAZ RATNER/REUTERS

Early in 2006, Amrullah Saleh, then the head of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS), the country's principal intelligence service, decided to conduct a formal study of the Taliban's gathering resurgence, to inform Afghan President Hamid Karzai, his cabinet and allies of Afghanistan. He decided to interview active Taliban commanders personally. (There are few impermeable lines in Afghanistan's internal conflicts.) Mr. Saleh travelled to Zabul, Uruzgan, Helmand, Kandahar and other provincial capitals. His colleagues in regional NDS offices negotiated safe-passage agreements with Taliban commanders, who came in to talk to him. This sometimes involved paying the Taliban for their time and insights. Mr. Saleh's classified paper was completed in May, 2006, the same month Canada's Task Force Orion launched Operation Mountain Thrust, "to defeat the Taliban in their traditional areas." Commanded by Colonel Ian Hope, it was the first of a succession of operations intended to break the back of the Taliban's comeback around Kandahar, the movement's birthplace. Canadian forces fought hard, absorbed unexpected casualties and were often tactically successful, but trying to suppress the Taliban proved to be like "digging a hole in the ocean," as Canadian Major-General David Fraser, the top Canadian commander, put it.

Canada had run into a Pakistani covert operation to bring back the Taliban. In his paper, Mr. Saleh concluded that Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, had made a decision in 2005 to support the Taliban more actively, with cash and other aid, backed by covert subsidies from Saudi Arabia. The consolidation of Mr. Karzai's government between 2003 and 2005 – a period when a new Afghan constitution was ratified and successful presidential and parliamentary elections were held – explained the timing of this Pakistani turn in policy, Mr. Saleh judged. He regarded Pakistan as an "India-centric country." In essence, he concluded, Pakistan's generals feared that Mr. Karzai's legitimacy would steer Afghanistan toward a durable role as an Indian ally, with international backing.

Soldiers of the U.S. 82nd airborne detain an Afghan man during Operation Alamo Sweep in southeastern Afghanistan on Nov. 7, 2002.
SCOTT NELSON/AP

His study predicted that the Taliban mobilization would intensify and that by 2009, the guerrillas would be advancing from rural strongholds to threaten major cities such as Kandahar. The paper forecast that the Taliban would mount a full-fledged insurgency that would bog down Afghan and international troops. This would turn out to be largely accurate, except that the Taliban drive on southern cities occurred even faster than that, at Canada's expense. The "Afghanistan government's legitimacy should not be brought down due to our inefficiency in knowing the enemy, knowing ourselves and applying resources efficiently," Mr. Saleh warned.

He passed his paper to the United States, and it seems likely that Canadian decision-makers and commanders saw it as well, but by then they were committed to the Kandahar campaign. They had to contend not only with the Taliban but with an Afghan President who discounted the seriousness of the insurgency. Mr. Karzairejected the study's findings. He ridiculed its predictions and asked Mr. Saleh to never again call the Taliban "an insurgency."

For years, Mr. Karzai clung to the conviction that the Taliban were a problem of international terrorism solely attributable to the ISI and that there was no indigenous cause of the revolt against his rule. He told U.S. General Stanley McChrystal in 2009, as the United States took charge of the war from NATO allies and dispatched tens of thousands of troops to escalate the fight: "An insurgency, as I understand the meaning, suggests there are citizens of a country who are fighting against their government because they think the government is illegitimate. Now, we are a conservative, simple Muslim people. If they are fighting against an illegitimate government, then who are you, the United States? You are propping up an illegitimate government. No. There is no insurgency."

Mr. Karzai believed, like many other Afghans, that the true story of the war – the essential problem – was not his government's corruption or legitimacy but the mysterious unwillingness of the United States to challenge the ISI and Pakistan. By the end of his time in power, Mr. Karzai had sunk into conspiracy thinking, concluding that the United States must want the ISI to succeed in destabilizing Afghanistan in order to justify maintaining U.S. military bases in his country.

American diplomats tried to dissuade Mr. Karzai of this belief, but until the end, he refused to yield. During a 2013 meeting, recalled James Dobbins, then the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said to Mr. Karzai: "Mr. President, between Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks, you have several million documents to examine – can you find any mention of such designs? Do you really think I would lie to you about this?"

"Maybe you don't know about the plan," Mr. Karzai replied, suggesting the existence of a "deep state" in America.

The truth was more prosaic. Distracted by the Iraq War and seeking to avoid deep entanglement in Afghanistan, the Bush administration was slow to recognize that it was being deceived by Pakistan's generals and spies. When it finally did wake up, toward the end of 2006, the Taliban had acquired momentum. The Bush administration and then the Obama administration conducted multiple reviews of strategy in Afghanistan but discovered few palatable options. If NATO launched an all-out war against the Taliban's sanctuaries in Pakistan, it would further destabilize a country containing dozens of nuclear weapons and at least that many terrorist groups. Instead, George Bush and then Barack Obama were sold on a counterinsurgency war against the Taliban inside Afghanistan, supplemented by a CIA-run drone war against Taliban encampments in Pakistan's western tribal areas.

Canadian forces held the line in Kandahar, of course, until the Americans poured in, in 2009. Some U.S. commanders were disdainful of Canada's "3-D" strategy of defence, diplomacy and development, which had suffered on contact with the Taliban early on, in 2006. Hubristically, the Pentagon believed that only American muscle could clear out Kandahar and other Taliban regions in the south and east. With greater numbers and a more unified command, the Americans did make some progress, at a high cost in lives and limbs, but gradually they also discovered that they were no better equipped than NATO allies to defeat the ISI's strategy – and that Maj.-Gen. Fraser's metaphor was apt.

Today, in the American-led war's 17 th year, U.S. and allied Afghan forces are still digging that hole in the ocean, hoping against all historical evidence that they can make enough progress on the battlefield to force the Taliban into a political settlement acceptable to most Afghans. The Trump administration has suspended aid to Pakistan in the hope that it will pressure the ISI to change course. The reaction in Pakistan since that announcement has been one of deep nationalist defiance.

Afghanistan has been at war for four decades. The only interlude of relative peace – apart from the years of smothering Taliban rule, which quieted many parts of the country – lasted from 2002 to 2006, years when many Afghans in exile came home to reclaim and rebuild their country. Counterfactual history is a fool's game, but if there ever was a chance to prevent Pakistan from interfering once again in Afghanistan through the ISI, and to incorporate significant numbers of former Taliban into constitutional politics, those were the years when it might have been done. And we can see now, in hindsight, that the framework of Canadian policy – security, reconstruction and active diplomacy to forge stable Afghan politics, backed by regional powers – was the right one. Instead, NATO failed to see what was coming out of Pakistan until it was too late and succumbed to hubristicAmerican strategy dominated by a Pentagon that repeatedly overestimated its capacity to change the course of the war. In its blindness, the alliance failed the many Afghans who relied on its power and promises.

GoC: No evidence Canadian Made LAVs Used in Saudi Civil Conflict

By: Melanie Marquis, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- The federal government has not been able to determine with any certainty that Canadian-made light-armoured vehicles sold to Saudi Arabia were used by that country to suppress the Shiite minority in the eastern part of the country.

A Canadian Army LAV III deployed in Afghanistan in 2010. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland confirmed Thursday that officials from her department did not find conclusive evidence that the Canadian-made vehicles have been used in human rights abuses.

That independent opinion from public servants was communicated to her after a "rigorous investigation" launched last August at her request.

"Officials at Global Affairs Canada found no conclusive evidence that Canadian-made vehicles were used in human rights violations," Freeland told members of the Commons foreign affairs committee.

"That was the independent, objective opinion of our public service and the advice given to me as minister."

At the time, Freeland said she was deeply concerned by reports last summer in the Globe and Mail that Saudi Arabia had used Gurkha armoured personnel carriers, made by Newmarket, Ont., based Terradyne Armoured Vehicles Inc., against its own people.

She vowed to "respond accordingly" if that was the case, but wanted to ensure a through investigation so as to act on credible, trustworthy information.

According to a report in Montreal's Le Devoir last month, since opening the probe, a Global Affairs spokesman said Ottawa suspended all arms exports to the Saudi kingdom last summer.

That included a contract for armoured vehicles designed by General Dynamics Land Systems, which won a $15 billion contract in 2015 that the Liberal government honoured by issuing export permits a year later.

Freeland's office did not respond to a query about whether Thursday's finding meant the shipments have already resumed or would begin anew.

The government is being questioned about the issue of exporting arms to nations with spotty human rights records after another deal concluded between Bell Helicopter and the Philippines has raised concerns.

Freeland is expected to announce during testimony at the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development later Thursday that the government is proposing two amendments to Bill C47 on export and import acts when it comes to licensing weapons.

The toughest of the measures is the legal requirement for the Canadian government to consider human rights, peace and security risks in any pre-export licensing assessment.

In the future, if the government finds there is a "substantial risk" the conditions could be violated, the law will require that export be refused.

The proposed amendments, approved Tuesday in cabinet, are not retroactive and won't apply to General Dynamics Land Systems, based in London, Ont.

On Wednesday, the government ordered a review of a 2012 deal between Bell Helicopter and the Philippine government after similar concerns surfaced.

The government is concerned about the use of the choppers by the government of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been accused of extrajudicial executions in connection with a war on drug traffickers and terrorists.

The helicopters are manufactured in Mirabel, Que.

A senior member of the Philippine military said the aircraft would also be used in "internal security operations," prompting a review.

On Thursday, the Philippine defence said Thursday that the military would not use 16 helicopters being bought from Canada to attack insurgents, as had been feared by Canadian officials.

Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Philippine government could buy elsewhere if Canada decides to scuttle the sale of the Bell helicopters, which he said would be used to ferry supplies and troops, including those wounded in combat, and to respond to disasters.

The office of International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said those comments do not change the government's plan to order an assessment of the deal with Canadian Commercial Corp.

-- with files from The Associated Press.

Ottawa Orders Review of Combat Helicopter Sale to Philippines

STEVEN CHASE, The Globe and Mail
OTTAWA

The federal government has ordered a review of Canada's deal to sell helicopters to the Philippine military amid rising concerns about supplying armed forces that have been accused of unlawful killings in the Asian country.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said she is prepared to block the export of the aircraft if necessary, and expressed serious misgivings about human-rights violations under the Duterte government in the Philippines.

International Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters the review was prompted by comments from a Filipino military officer regarding the intended use of these equipment.

Philippines Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla, military chief of plans, told media on Tuesday, the day that news of the deal was released, that the helicopters "will be used for the military's internal security operations."

The federal government did not immediately answer questions on when the deal was reached. A Global Affairs spokeswoman had told reporters this week that Canada was under the impression the helicopters would be used for "disaster relief, search and rescue, passenger transport and utility transport."

The Philippine military has said the 'copters might also be used for these humanitarian purposes. The Liberal government was on the defensive earlier this week over why Ottawa would allow a deal with the Philippines' armed forces after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau voiced concerns over human-rights abuses by the country's security forces.

Mr. Trudeau drew international headlines last November after he raised the matter of extrajudicial killing with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte at an international summit in Manila. Mr. Duterte later lashed out publicly at Mr. Trudeau, calling foreign questioning of the matter "a personal and official insult."

The deal for 16 choppers, brokered by the Canadian Commercial Corp., a Crown corporation, is worth more than US$233.36-million. The helicopters are produced by Bell Helicopter in Mirabel, Que. The federal riding of Mirabel is held by the Bloc Québécois.

No export permits yet have been issued in the Philippines deal.

Mr. Champagne told reporters that the government has not approved any permits and none had been sought. He said he is asking the Crown corporation to review the contract immediately.


Most export permits are approved by the Global Affairs bureaucracy, and only a small fraction each year are sent to the foreign affairs minister for a decision, usually because there is disagreement within the civil service or the deal is controversial.

Ms. Freeland vowed in the Commons to investigate this deal.

"The Prime Minister and I have been very clear about the Duterte regime's human-rights violations and extrajudicial killings including while [we visited] the Philippines. I will conduct an extremely rigorous human rights analysis of any potential export permit application related to this contract," Ms. Freeland said.

"I have the power to deny a permit if I feel that it poses a risk to human rights, and I am prepared to do so."

Mr. Champagne said this deal was made in accordance with the terms of an agreement between Canada and the Philippines in 2012, when the Harper government was in power.

The deal was announced as the Philippines military prepares to step up operations against Islamist and communist rebels.


Arms-control advocates question why the Trudeau government is helping equip the military of a country in which death squads have carried out unlawful or unauthorized killings for years – activities that have prompted concern at the highest levels in Ottawa.

Cesar Jaramillo, executive director of Project Ploughshares, a disarmament group that is an agency of the Canadian Council of Churches, said the deal reveals weaknesses in Canada's arms-control system.

"The notion that the Philippine military intends to use the helicopters for internal security operations is not at all surprising," he said. "The comments from the Philippine military about the intended use of the helicopters simply confirm the type of risks involved that a rigorous export controls regime should detect."

The arms-control advocate noted the difference in how the Trudeau government has handled two arms deals. In the case of a $15-billion Saudi arms deal reached by the Harper government, the Liberals said they could not break a contract, Mr. Jaramillo said, adding that they appear more flexible in a much smaller deal.

"It is somewhat striking that a single comment from the Philippine military prompted the announcement of this review one day later, while the multibillion-dollar Saudi arms deal has withstood years of concrete red flags about the overriding risk that Canadian equipment might be misused there," he said.

Last November, Mr. Trudeau told Canadians he personally pressed Mr. Duterte on human rights.

"As I mentioned to President Duterte, we're concerned with human rights, with the extrajudicial killings," Mr. Trudeau said at the time. The Prime Minister said Canada has "a reputation for being able to have strong and frank, sometimes firm, discussions around the rule of law and human rights with its partners."

Under the deal, the Bell 412EPI helicopters are to be delivered early next year as Mr. Duterte refocuses the armed forces modernization program to tackle growing domestic threats as Maoist fighters and pro-Islamic State extremists try to regroup.

According to Human Rights Watch, since taking office in 2016, Mr. Duterte has carried out a "war on drugs" in which death of more than 7,000 suspected drug dealers and addicts have been killed.

Cases investigated by the media and rights groups "invariably found unlawful executions by police or agents of the police typically acting as death squads," Human Rights Watch says.

With a report from Reuters

MV Asterix (iAOR) Reaches Full Operational Service within RCN

PRESS RELEASE - Davie Shipbulding & Federal Fleet Services

On January 29, 2018, Davie Shipbuilding and Federal Fleet Services announced that following an intensive period of at-sea trials and testing, Asterix has been formally accepted by the Department of National Defence and has now entered full operational service with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

Asterix completes Royal Canadian Navy trials, achieves Full Operational Capability (FOC) (CNW Group/Davie Shipbuilding)

Asterix completes Royal Canadian Navy trials, achieves Full Operational Capability (FOC) (CNW Group/Davie Shipbuilding)

As planned, Asterix performed daily replenishment-at-sea (RAS) exercises with the RCN and conducted extensive RCAF CH-148 Cyclone helicopter operations to prove and demonstrate the world-leading capabilities of the Resolve-Class Naval Support Ship. These exercises have included everything from dual RAS operations to helicopter landing, take-off and vertical replenishment trials.

Spencer Fraser, CEO of Federal Fleet Services commented "To deliver the first Canadian naval ship in over twenty years, the first supply ship in almost 50 years, and to reach FOC so efficiently and in such a short period of time is a testament to the hard work, dedication and dynamism of the teams at Davie and FFS. We are all very proud of our achievement and appreciative of the professional support we have received from DND and PSPC."

Fraser added, "We promised the government that we would fill a strategic gap in an expedited manner, that we would save the Canadian taxpayer money with our solution, and most importantly, that we would provide the men and women of the RCN and RCAF with a world-class capability they could be proud of. Today marks that achievement and we stand ready to assist the Government of Canada to do more."

Alex Vicefield, Chairman of Davie commented, "We would like to thank Prime Minister Trudeau for the confidence and trust he placed in Canada's largest shipbuilder with the award of this program. We are proud to have delivered, as promised, on this vital defence capability which will serve Canada for years to come."

Over 900 Canadian companies from coast-to-coast participated in the build of Asterix, and the Resolve Class has been hailed worldwide for the innovative Canadian solutions integrated onboard. Participation in this project has assisted the exports of many of Davie's Tier 1 sub-contractors; Hepburn of Toronto designed and built the RAS equipment, L3 MAPPS of Montreal designed and installed the Integrated Platform Management System and OSI of Vancouver designed and built the Integrated Bridge System. By participating in the project, these and other innovative Canadian companies have been able to win export opportunities.

Asterix is now ready for global deployment to support combat and humanitarian operations as directed by the Government of Canada.

Current Canadian Fighter Jet Procurement Timeline

By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch

Here are some more details on the timing/milestones of the Canadian government’s purchase of 88 new fighter jets. This information comes from the federal government:

A draft request for proposals (RFP) is expected by this fall. Suppliers will have up to two months to submit comments and the RFP will be finalized by early 2019. It will be issued in the spring of 2019.

Suppliers will be given around six months to work on their proposals, with submissions by early 2020.

There will be discussions with suppliers about their proposals and revised proposals could be submitted by the fall of 2020.

A winning bidder is expected to be selected in spring 2021. A contract would be signed in late 2021 or early 2022.

The first aircraft would be delivered sometime in 2025.

The first squadron will reach initial operating capability in 2026. Full operational capability – which will include four operational squadrons, plus training – will be reached in 2031.

The last CF-18 will be retired in 2032.

Initial cadre training by the host nation will begin in 2024/2025 time period. Transition training will take place between 2025 and 2031.

Canada To Sell Combat Helicopters to Philippines despite Deadly War on Drugs

By: David Pugliese, The National Post 

Canada is selling 16 combat helicopters to the Philippines — a country where President Rodrigo Duterte is facing widespread condemnation for a war on drugs that has left about 12,000 people dead.

A Philippeanse Air Force Bell 412 Helicopter; delivered in 2015. 

The $234 million deal, brokered by the Canadian Commercial Corporation, involves Bell 412 aircraft which are expected to be built at the U.S. company’s plant in Mirabel, Que.

The sale was denounced by human rights activists who warned that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government was cozying up to some of the more dubious regimes in the world. They pointed to an ongoing deal to sell light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, a move the Liberals criticized the Conservative government for arranging but went ahead with when Trudeau came to power.

“The Liberal government had pledged to uphold higher standards after the terrible Saudi arms deal but instead it is selling to the worst and most repressive regime in Asia where the president brags about personally shooting drug users and throwing people out of helicopters,” said Steve Staples, vice president of the Rideau Institute in Ottawa. “How long will it be until the (Philippine) military is using the helicopters during executions?”

Staples pointed out that the deal would not have gone through without the backing of the Canadian government and the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a Crown corporation.

Related:
Trudeau’s drug war comments ‘a personal and official insult,’ Duterte says
Trudeau in Manila to pursue deeper trade, security ties in Asia-Pacific
Philippines slams 39 countries calling for end to killings

Cesar Jaramillo, executive director of Project Ploughshares, an organization that works to prevent war and armed violence, warned the deal could have serious ramifications. “Given President Duterte’s abysmal human rights record — which Ottawa is no doubt aware of — this raises troubling questions about the risk of the helicopters being equipped with weapons and of their use in human rights violations,” Jaramillo told Postmedia.

He also noted that the sale exposed a major loophole in Canada’s military export controls. “Although the helicopters are being supplied for military use, they are classified by the Canadian government as civilian and thus their export does not require special authorization.”

The NDP’s foreign affairs critic, Hélène Laverdière, called on Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland to refuse approval for the export permits needed for the helicopter sale. “How can Trudeau justify this deal with the Philippines when Duterte’s government has plunged the country into a terrible human rights crisis?” Laverdière tweeted.

In a release announcing the deal, Bell Helicopter said it was “honoured” to be supplying the aircraft to the Philippine military.

The Canadian Commercial Corporation also brokered the $15 billion light-armoured vehicles deal with the Saudis — which Trudeau dismissed on the campaign trail as just “jeeps.”

The controversial deal returned to the spotlight last year when it was reported that another type of armoured vehicle from a Canadian firm was being used by the Saudis on their own citizens.



The Saudis have been repeatedly criticized for an appalling human rights record. Government rules call for Canada to curb shipments to countries with a “persistent record of serious violations of the human rights of their citizens.”

Duterte has also been condemned by human rights activists for his war on drugs. Last month Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimated that the “murderous” war had killed 12,000 people.

The Philippine president — who once boasted about throwing a man to his death from a helicopter — has warned government officials they would face the same fate if he learned they were involved in corruption. After the United Nations criticized him for assorted human-rights violations, Duterte last month denounced the organization as serving “no purpose at all.”

The Philippines has also been fighting a Communist insurgency since 1969 in a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Last year, Duterte faced criticism after cancelling peace talks aimed at ending that conflict. The Philippine military is also involved in a fight against Islamic extremists.

Duterte, who has cracked down on media outlets that have criticized his policies, is a popular leader in the Philippines. His tough stance on the drug war has earned him the praise of U.S. President Donald Trump who has said Duterte was doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem.”

In a report last month, Kenneth Roth, executive director of HRW, said the “epidemic of police shootings” were often summary executions. “The vast majority of victims were young men from the slums of major cities—people who elicited little sympathy among many Filipinos,” he wrote.

Calling for political leaders to have the courage to stand up for human rights he wrote, “Human rights standards provide guidance but become operational only with champions among governments and ordinary people.”

Canada provided four helicopters to the Philippines in 2015, before Duterte’s election.

Canadian Commercial Corporation declined to comment on what approvals were received to allow the contract to proceed and about Canadian government policy on selling to countries involved in an ongoing war. “For reasons of commercial confidentiality we cannot confirm any other details of the contract,” a corporation spokesperson replied in an email. The CCC did confirm that the contract was signed on Dec. 29, 2017.

Global Affairs Canada said in an email Tuesday that the helicopters will be used for “disaster relief, search and rescue, passenger transport, and utility transport.”

However, Philippines Major-General Restituto Padilla, military chief of plans, told journalists, “The helicopters will be used for the military’s internal security operations.”
They can be used in a secondary role for search and rescue and disaster relief.

Canadian defence industry representatives have praised the Canadian Commercial Corporation for its efforts in selling military equipment around the world and have pointed out it was now focused on boosting arms sales to the United Arab Emirates.

In a Dec. 18 statement, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan noted that Canada and the United Arab Emirates signed a new defence agreement which not only supports further military cooperation but “also means opening doors for Canadian industry in the region.”

The day after Sajjan’s statement, Norway’s government decided to suspend exports of weapons and ammunition to the UAE because of concerns the equipment could be used in the civil war in Yemen. The UAE is part of a coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, that is fighting Houthi forces who seized the country’s capital city. The fighting has killed more than 5,000 people and Saudi Arabia’s bombing of civilian targets has been condemned by the international community.

Germany has also halted arms shipments to Saudi Arabia because of its involvement in the Yemen war
.

Deadline Looms for Boeing to Decide on CF-18 Replacement Bid

By: David Ljunggren & Leah Schnurr, Reuters News 

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Boeing Co must decide by the end of this week whether to take part in a multi-billion-dollar race to supply Canada with fighter jets, even as the U.S. company’s relationship with Ottawa has soured due to a trade dispute.

Although a U.S. trade commission on Jan. 26 dismissed Boeing’s complaint that Canadian plane maker Bombardier was dumping airliners on the American market, it is far from certain the ruling will be enough to placate Canada.

That could well influence the company’s decision on bidding on a contract for 88 jets worth between C$15 billion ($12.1 billion) and C$19 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said in a post earnings call last week the company will wait to see the commission’s reasoning, coming later this month, “to make decisions on our path forward.”

The company declined to comment further.

Boeing has until Feb. 9 to express an interest in taking part in the Canadian jet competition, failing which it will be excluded from the bidding process.

At stake could be billions of dollars of defense procurement orders at a time when Canada is ramping up military spending over the next decade. Boeing says it supports some 17,000 jobs in Canada.


The dispute also has weighed on the crucial NAFTA modernization talks, which have dragged on for months.

Although government officials say the competition will be open, they have privately made it clear that Boeing needs to drop the Bombardier challenge and talk of an appeal to stand a better chance of winning the jet contract, say sources familiar with the matter.

“A lot of things would be better if they did that,” said one source who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the situation.
FROSTY RELATIONSHIP

There are signs the relationship between Boeing and Ottawa remain frosty. Boeing did not send its own staff to a meeting between the Canadian government and industry held in January to discuss the jets contract, the sources said.

Boeing said its F-18 Super Hornet was represented by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the Pentagon unit that implements foreign arms sales. U.S. foreign military sales are often negotiated between the U.S. government and each customer nation.

Lockheed Martin Corp, Dassault Aviation SA and Airbus SE also are expected to compete.

Canada is part of the consortium that helped develop Lockheed’s F-35 stealth fighter, although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during his successful 2015 election campaign that he would not buy the plane because it was too expensive.

Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, who has said Boeing has not behaved like a trusted partner, did not answer directly last Tuesday when repeatedly pressed as to how the aerospace giant could get back into Ottawa’s good books.

Ottawa says the bids will be evaluated in part on the basis of “past and recent economic behavior of potential bidders leading up to the procurement.”


That test is months away from being finalised, meaning Boeing has no idea whether Ottawa would be satisfied if it did drop the challenge, sources said.

A company’s submission will be evaluated not just on the economic test but on a number of factors including, price and military capability, one of the sources said.

While Boeing has repeatedly said it will not take reprisals against its Canadian supply chain and workforce, the dispute between Boeing and Canada worries aerospace suppliers who fear they could lose future contracts, an industry source familiar with the matter said. Canada’s aerospace industry is a major employer in Quebec, a politically valuable province for Trudeau, who is facing elections in 2019.