Canada extends Iraq and Ukraine military missions to 2021 and 2022

By: The Canadian Press

Canada is extending its military missions in Ukraine and Iraq, both of which were due to expire at the end of the month.

The extensions shore up Canada’s contributions to the global effort to curb Russian aggression in Eastern Europe and to the fight against Islamic militants in the Middle East.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland say the mission of about 200 Canadian Forces personnel in Ukraine will be extended to the end of March 2022.


The Forces have been involved in Ukraine since September 2015, helping train the country’s military, which is battling Russian-backed separatist forces.

Canada will extend the Canadian Forces’ contribution to the Global Coalition Against Daesh and the NATO mission in Iraq, until the end of March 2021.

Canada has about 500 military members in Iraq, including 200 who are part of a NATO training mission and 120 special forces who have been helping Iraqi forces root out Islamic State insurgents around the northern city of Mosul.

Those are parts of Canada’s larger Middle East strategy, which also includes humanitarian assistance and diplomatic engagement in Iraq, Syria and the surrounding region.

The decision to extend Canada’s commitment in Ukraine will be welcome news to that country as it continues to cope with Russia’s annexation of its Crimea region in 2014, and the continuing unrest in its eastern Donbass region, which is plagued by separatist rebels backed by Moscow.

“The people of Ukraine know they can count on Canada,” Freeland said in a statement. “We are steadfast in our commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as it works toward a stable, democratic and prosperous future.”

Ukraine is bracing for Russian interference in its upcoming presidential election on March 31.

Former foreign-affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy is leading a delegation of Canadian election monitors to Ukraine.

Freeland said Canada will host an international conference on Ukraine’s economy and political reforms in July that will include foreign ministers from the European Union, the G7 and NATO countries.

Federal Budget turns a blind eye to Canada's military needs

By David Krayden, National Post 

Opinion: Were the Liberals ever serious about their big defence plan? They cut defence spending in 2018 and are ignoring it in 2019

Last week’s federal budget offered relatively modest spending with targeted funding after years of spending from a government that seemed to believe the deficit will solve itself. Unfortunately, the Canadian Armed Forces again escaped the finance minister’s gaze and for the second consecutive year, national defence is conspicuous by its absence from the budget.

A Canadian soldier provides security as medics assist German troops during a medical evacuation demonstration on the United Nations base in Gao, Mali, on Dec. 22, 2018.Adrian Wyld/CP

You might recall the fanfare when Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan released the Liberals’ defence policy review in 2017: “Strong, Secure, Engaged.” It was already more than six months overdue and there was a feeling among defence analysts and most journalists that the Liberals had to deliver a document that suggested serious resolve.

HMCS Windsor, one of Canada’s Victoria-class long range patrol submarines, returns to port in Halifax on June 20, 2018. Andrew Vaughan/CP

Sajjan promised a whopping 70-per-cent increase in defence spending, pledging to drive funding up to $32.7 billion from $18.9 billion. Naval ships, combat-support vehicles and 88 fighter jets would be replaced through “an open and transparent competition.”

But there was one large disclaimer. All of this would happen over the next decade, assuming the realities of 2017 would remain constant during that period. How well would any government have done predicting the military needs of 1942 based on the geopolitics of 1932?

In any case, we’ve yet to see any indication that the Liberals were serious about the plan. They cut defence spending in 2018 and have ignored it in 2019.

A Canadian soldier prepares to leave base in Gao, Mali, on Aug. 1, 2018, to take part in an operation as part of the United Nations mission in that country. AFP/Getty Images

Was there an alternative motive to the 2017 defence review? Canada was still in the midst of NAFTA negotiations with an American president who was increasingly critical of our defence contribution, especially as it pertained to NATO. Donald Trump had repeatedly cited Canada as one of the deadbeat members of NATO that refuses to fund its military at two per cent of its GDP — despite having promised to do so and notwithstanding that we have done so in the past. With Budget 2019, Canada is no closer to meeting that pledge, spending 1.23 per cent of its GDP on national defence.

A photograph taken out the window of a Canadian Forces CC-150 Polaris tanker shows a CF-18 Hornet fighter jet being refuelled in the air over Vancouver on Feb. 18, 2010. Master Corporal Andrew Collins, 14 Wing Imaging

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s desultory approach to defence capital acquisition may well be defined by the fighter jet fiasco that grows more bizarre with every twist and turn of the story. It was the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien that joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter development program. It was Stephen Harper’s Conservative government that dithered on procuring the aircraft. It is the current Trudeau government that decided to start the whole process again. In the meantime, the Liberals considered buying some interim Super Hornets from Boeing before ultimately deciding to pick up some used Australian F-18s — just as the Royal Australian Air Force took delivery of its first F-35s.A

Perhaps the best speech of this year’s just-concluded Manning Networking Conference in Ottawa was delivered by former chief of defence staff Gen. Rick Hillier. Hillier, whose career was defined by integrity and a politics-be-damned leadership style, told the conservative gathering that if Canada “buys a fighter aircraft that is anything but the F-35, we will have lost our minds.”

The last prime minister who consistently funded the Canadian military was Louis St-Laurent. All successive administrations — Liberal and Conservative — have to varying degrees played the shell game with defence spending. While lauding a capital acquisition project here, they will starve another project over there to pay for it. While promising consistent funding, they will squeeze the military at the first opportunity when a fiscal need emerges elsewhere.


They will squeeze the military at the first opportunity

With defence procurement being so hamstrung by petty politics and policy inertia, no amount of government funding can guarantee a combat-capable military if those dollars are not efficiently and effectively spent. As Hillier said, “Our acquisition process in Canada, in particular for the Department of National Defence, is abhorrent. It is pointless to give the Department of National Defence increased spending if you then tie them in a Gordian knot where they can’t actually spend the money.”

Sadly, that’s exactly what we’re doing.

— David Krayden is a former Royal Canadian Air Force public affairs officer and legislative assistant on Parliament Hill. He has worked in print, radio and television journalism and is currently the Ottawa bureau chief for The Daily Caller, a Washington-based media outlet.

Sajjan Pledges Support for Anti-ISIS Mission - But Does not Extend Canadian Mission

The Canadian Press

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan pledged Canada’s enduring support for Iraq and the war against Islamic State group on Thursday – but stopped short of extending Canada’s military mission in the region, most of which is set to expire next spring.

Rather, after hosting a meeting with representatives from more than a dozen countries to discuss the future of Iraq and Syria and plot next steps in the effort to destroy ISIL (also known as ISIS), Sajjan said the government continues to weigh Canada’s long-term role in the region.

“Today, we reaffirmed our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS’s own network of foreign terrorist fighters, financing and propaganda,” the minister said in a statement after the meeting at a government-owned estate on Meech Lake, near Ottawa.

“Moving forward, the coalition’s continued collaboration and partnership remains crucial, and the strategic advice and direction provided during this morning’s meeting will be essential in shaping our next steps toward winning this fight.”

The comments came shortly after Canada’s top general told a parliamentary committee that while progress has been made in the fight against ISIL, it’s still too early to say when Canadian soldiers might no longer be needed in Iraq.

Defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance said many of the political, economic and social problems that contributed to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s rise more than four years ago remain.

And while ISIL has lost all the territory it once held in Iraq, Vance says ISIL remains a threat and that Canada and its allies must remain on guard against any attempts to re-assert itself.

“At some point in the future, I would look forward to being able to provide the advice that Iraq has come far enough and (ISIL) has gone backwards enough that we don’t need the military forces there anymore,” Vance said. “We’re not at that point right now.”

A recent U.S. Defense Department report that said that ISIL has started to dig roots as an “effective” insurgent group – and that it could take “years, if not decades” before the Iraqi military can deal with it on its own.

Canada earlier this year assumed command of a NATO training mission that includes 250 Canadian troops and whose aim is to train the Iraqi military so that it can ensure security.

However, hundreds of other Canadian soldiers not assigned to the training mission have continued to fly transport and refuelling aircraft, collect and analyze intelligence and provide medical assistance to coalition efforts against ISIL, also known as ISIS.

Vance also revealed that Canada still has an undisclosed number of special-forces soldiers in Iraq who have been working with Iraqi security forces as the latter hunt down ISIL forces left over from earlier battles.

Without an extension, the non-NATO mission is set to expire in March.

The question heading into Thursday’s meeting at Meech Lake was whether the federal government would opt to keep them in Iraq longer, change the overall mission or begin to withdraw from the country.

Sajjan and his co-host, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, said coming out that they had “reaffirmed our focus on the enduring defeat of ISIS and defined our vision moving forward.

© 2018 The Canadian Press

CAF Says Submarines can operate until mid-2020s

By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch 

The Victoria-class submarines were expected to reach the end of their operational lives starting in 2022, according to documents obtained under the Access to Information law.

That could have been a major problem for the federal government as it is looking at planning a modernization program for the on-board systems on the class, starting in 2023 or 2024.

If the subs were to reach the end of their operational lives starting a year earlier, how would that have worked?

HMCS Victoria operating on the west coast. Photo by David Pugliese.

Defence Watch asked that question and has been informed that things have now changed. Department of National Defence spokesman Daniel Le Bouthillier said that the Victoria-class start to reach the end of their operational life in the mid-2020s. That later date was determined after DND officials did a more extensive examination of the submarine fleet life.

But there are still no details on what needs to be done to extend the life of the subs, how much that will cost, or when that will be done. “The Victoria-class Modernization (VCM) Program is currently in the Options Analysis stage, where the preferred modernization option is being selected,” Le Bouthillier noted. “Details of specific capabilities and milestones will be determined as the program evolves.”

Last year Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan praised the capability submarines provide Canada. “No other platform in the Canadian Armed Forces can do what a submarine can do,” Sajjan said. “No other platform has the stealth, the intelligence-gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance capability and the deterrence to potential adversaries that a sub does.”

But the Liberals have rejected a Commons defence committee recommendation that the Victoria-class subs, bought used in 1998 from the United Kingdom, be replaced with submarines capable of under-ice capabilities.

“The government has also committed to modernizing the four Victoria-class submarines to include weapons and sensor upgrades that will enhance the ability of the submarines to conduct Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and deliver necessary improvements of platform and combat systems to extend operational capability to the mid-2030’s,” the government response to the committee noted.

Sajjan Confirms - Mali Mission Will Not Be Extended

By: Kathrine Starr, CBC News 

Canada's peacekeeping mission in Mali will end in July as planned, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has confirmed.

"The United Nations is working with other nations to look at replacing us," Sajjan told Chris Hall in an interview airing today on CBC Radio's The House. Sajjan spoke to Hall before his speech Friday to the tenth annual Halifax International Security Forum, a gathering of global leaders discussing major security and defence issues.

Sajjan said Canada will have fulfilled its year-long promise to head the Mali mission by July. The Canadian Press reported this week that the UN has quietly asked Canada about extending its role.

"The discussions I've had with other UN security generals has not led to that," Sajjan said.

Canadian troops arrive at a UN base in Gao, Mali, on Monday, June 25, 2018. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

"We've said this for a year. We wanted to offer up support for what the UN wanted to do. One big ask they had was the concept of smart pledges. Nations come, take a yearly responsibility. We have done that."

The minister added that there will be a transition period before Canada leaves Mali, much like the one that occurred when the German-Belgian helicopter mission in Mali was winding down and Canadian personnel were arriving last year.

Although an official announcement has not been made, The Canadian Press is reporting that Romania is expected to take over from Canada, but not until October or November — months after the Canadians have left.

"The UN is on track to be able to find a replacement," Sajjan said. "We will work with whoever steps up."
Most dangerous UN mission

Canada currently has eight helicopters and 250 military members in the sprawling West African nation to rescue injured peacekeepers and UN workers and to transport troops and equipment.

The Mali mission is considered the most dangerous UN mission in the world; 22 peacekeepers were killed this year alone and 177 have been killed since the mission began in 2013. About 15,500 people are part of the Mali mission now, which began after a rebellion in the north and a coup in the capital in 2012 resulted in a surge of violence.

Canadian peacekeepers have so far conducted four emergency evacuations in Mali. The most recent was on Nov. 1, after two civilians were injured when they were attacked with an improvised explosive device while driving.
More permanent presence needed in North

Sajjan also discussed Canada's defence goals in the Arctic, saying that more permanent troops are needed in the North to respond to threats such as increasing Russian aggression and Chinese interest in the region.

"We did identify that we do need to do more," he said, adding that a broader approach to the Arctic is necessary.

"Sovereignty [in the Arctic] isn't strictly about defence. It's about supporting our communities up there. We're looking at this from a whole-of-government approach."

Sajjan pointed to investments in Arctic offshore patrol vessels and satellites with greater coverage as two examples of government efforts to "sustain our ability to respond in the North."

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says that with the North growing in strategic importance every day, Canada needs to further develop its Arctic military presence. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

In August and September, Canada's largest annual Arctic sovereignty exercise, Nanook 2018, took place in Northern Labrador, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Sajjan himself visited various Canadian Armed Forces installations in the North in August.

With approximately four million square kilometres of Arctic land to keep an eye on — that's about 40 per cent of Canada's total land mass — Canada won't be able to ramp up its polar presence overnight, Sajjan acknowledged.

"We have increased our spending year by year, but it's going to take us a little more time to get to the efficiency we want," he said.

In its updated defence policy released last year, the federal government committed to pushing Canada's defence budget to $32.7 billion annually in the tenth year, with expenditures set to rise the most after the 2019 election.

Specific Arctic investments will include updating Canada's ability to monitor air traffic over all of the 36,000 islands in Canada's Arctic archipelago, and buying ATVs, snowmobiles and other vehicles as part of an $8.8 billion, 20-year commitment to new equipment.

The navy also will receive five to six armed and "ice-capable" ships, meant to keep the government informed of activity in Arctic waters.

TAPVs Well Suited for New Iraq Mission

By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch 

Canadian military planners are currently going over options for the upcoming mission to Baghdad starting in the fall. The deployment includes a force protection group of about 125 personnel. They will provide on-site security for the NATO headquarters in the Iraqi capital city as well a mobile force protection group. The force will be outfitted with armoured vehicles for transportation, according to the Canadian government.

Defence Watch asked Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s office if LAV-llls were going to be sent. But Byrne Furlong, Sajjan’s press secretary, said no final decision has been made yet on the type of armoured platform troops will use.

One Department of National Defence official suggested that armoured SUVs could be used since the patrols will largely be in Baghdad.

Which raises the question- what about using the new Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicle?

The vehicle is highly mobile and provides a very high degree of protection for its crew, according to the Canadian Army. It is not as big as the LAV-lll and could be better suited for an urban environment.

Furlong said more information on the composition of the mission and equipment it will use will be released at a later date.

While security is tight in Baghdad, there still attacks. The United Nations reported that 19 people were killed and 18 injured in various attacks in the city in June. In January, suicide bombers killed 38 people and injured more than 105 others

New Iraq Mission Deploys Four Additional Griffon Helicopters

By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch 

Canada’s ongoing Iraq mission has a maximum cap of around 850 personnel, according to Department of National Defence officials. There are only around 500 to 600 assigned to the mission currently. So the commitment announced this week by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of 250 personnel will be new personnel heading from Canada to Iraq.

A Canadian Forces Griffon helicopter flies over a Internal Displaced persons camp near Erbil, Iraq, February 20, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz ORG XMIT: RYR112

The new mission will need up to four Griffon helicopters. That will be in addition to the four Griffons already based in Erbil in Northern Iraq.

“This is a new deployment of up to four helicopters, as requested by NATO,” Byrne Furlong, press secretary for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told Defence Watch.

“This detachment will be capable of transporting personnel and equipment around the NM-I Joint Operations Area,” she added. “These helicopters will be based out of the Taji Military Complex in order to best support of NATO in and around the Baghdad area.”


The heavily fortified complex is in a rural area, 27 kilometres north of Baghdad.

The helicopters will be in Iraq for the next 12 months.

Canadian special forces will remain in Iraq separate from the NATO mission, Furlong explained. “They will continue what they have been doing in the north in and around Mosul,” she added.

Bids for Future RCN Warships Don't Meet Many of the Requirements

By: David Pugliese, The National Post 

Canada’s quest for a new fleet of warships is off to a rocky start with all bidders failing to meet some of the federal government’s requirements.

Procurement officials are now trying to regroup on the $60-billion project and figure out ways that bidders might be able to change their proposals to make them acceptable, a number of defence industry executives pointed out.

The problems centre around technical issues. Some are minor but in other cases there is a view among defence industry officials that Canada is asking for too much in some areas such as radar, which may be causing problems with meeting requirements.

Public Services and Procurement Canada spokeswoman Michèle LaRose said the bids received for the Canadian Surface Combatant project have not been disqualified. Three bids have been received. The federal government and Irving Shipbuilding are still evaluating the proposals, she added. LaRose pointed out that the evaluation is at the second stage in the process.

Government officials say that involves what is known as “the cure process” in which bidders will be given details of how their proposals have failed to meet the stated criteria. They will then be given only one opportunity to fix issues with their bids.

HMCS St. John’s, one of Canada’s Halifax-class frigates, undergoes a mid-life refit at the Irving Shipbuilding facility in Halifax on Thursday, July 3, 2014. Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press

If they are still considered “non-compliant” after the cure period they “will be eliminated from the competition,” according to the federal government.

Technical specifications are now being evaluated by the government. Later this year, the companies will provide the financial information related to their bids.

Warship builders submitted their bids on Nov. 30. A winning bid is expected to be selected sometime this year.

Irving Shipbuilding will begin construction of the first ship in the early 2020s and delivery of the first vessel is expected in the mid-2020s, according to the federal government.

But the project has been plagued with delays and controversy.

Approximately one-half of the CSC build cost is comprised of labour in the (Irving’s) Halifax yard and materials

The final cost of the ships is still unknown. In 2008 the government estimated the total cost of the project to be about $26 billion.

But in 2015 navy commander Vice Admiral Mark Norman voiced concern that taxpayers may not have been given all relevant information, and publicly predicted the cost for the ships alone would be around $30 billion.

Cost estimates for the project are now between $55 billion and $60 billion.

About half of the cost is for systems and equipment that will go on the 15 ships, according to federal documents obtained by Postmedia through the Access to Information law. “Approximately one-half of the CSC build cost is comprised of labour in the (Irving’s) Halifax yard and materials,” the documents added.

HMCS Iroquois arrives in Halifax on Oct. 23, 2008 after a six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press

Last year, Jean-Denis Fréchette, the parliamentary budget officer, estimated the CSC program would cost $61.82 billion. He also warned that every year the awarding of the contract is delayed beyond 2018, taxpayers will spend an extra $3 billion because of inflation.

The surface combatant will be the backbone of the future Royal Canadian Navy.

In November in a surprise twist a French-Italian consortium declined to formally submit a bid and instead offered Canada a fleet of vessels at half the price.

Officials with Fincantieri of Italy and Naval Group of France said they don’t believe the procurement process as it is currently designed will be successful.

Instead they provided the Canadian government with a direct proposal that Irving Shipbuilding on the east coast construct 15 ships based on the consortium’s FREMM frigate design, which is proven and is currently in operation with the French and Italian navies. They are guaranteeing the cost of the ships at a fixed price of $30 billion.

The deal would have also focused on using Canadian technology on board the ships and included technology transfer to Canadian firms, so they could be involved in future sales of the FREMM vessels on the international market.

FREMM ships are operated by the Italian, French, Moroccan and Egyptian navies.

Under that plan, Irving could start building the warships almost immediately.

The Liberal government, however, rejected the deal.

Canada aims to deploy CAF to Mali by August: Sajjan

By: Rachel Aiello, CTV News 
@rachaiello

OTTAWA – The Canadian military is aiming to have peacekeepers on the ground in Mali by August, according to Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

RCAF Door Gunner onboard a Griffon Helicopter over Iraq. 

On March 19 the federal government announced its intention to send peacekeeping troops and an aviation task force to the UN mission in Mali for a year-long deployment.

"We're looking at right now this summer, we’re aiming for August," Sajjan told host Evan Solomon in an interview on CTV's Question Period airing Sunday. "The goal is to actually have the rotation in place, around that time."

Canada is deploying two Chinook helicopters to provide transport and logistics, and four Griffon helicopters to offer escort and protection services.

Other specific details, including the number of troops that will be deployed, and the rules of engagement, are yet to be announced.

Sajjan said Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance is currently doing "more detailed planning" and "analysis" to know specifically what will be needed.

"We have to be able to determine what type of planning figure we need to move forward on," Sajjan said. "Exactly where they’re going to be based and what’s actually needed there, that determination… all those things will have to be taken into account."

Sajjan also acknowledged that Mali “has become a very dangerous mission,” but assured Canadian troops will be ready for it.

According to the United Nations, there have been 162 multinational peacekeeper fatalities since the mission began in 2013.

HMCS Chinoutimi Returns from Longest-Ever Victoria-Class Submarine Deployment

Royal Canadian Navy Press Release

HMCS Chicoutimi has returned to CFB Esquimalt, B.C. after a 197-day deployment in the Asia-Pacific region, marking a historic milestone for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) submarine fleet after a nearly 50-year absence from the region. The deployment included numerous opportunities for HMCS Chicoutimi to operate with regional partner navies such as the United States Navy, the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force, The Royal Australian Navy and the French Navy. As part of her deployment, HMCS Chicoutimi visited Yokosuka, Japan, further strengthening the relationship between our two countries. 

HMCS Chicoutimi file Photo. (The Canadian Encyclopedia) 

“HMCS Chicoutimi’s successful six-month deployment to the Asia-Pacific region is a historic 50-year milestone for the Royal Canadian Navy and our Victoria-Class submarine,” said Harjit S. Sajjan, Defence Minister.

“I am incredibly proud of the work done by the submariners on board HMCS Chicoutimi. Their consistent dedication and professionalism is an inspiration. The advantage that submarines can bring to a battle space cannot be underestimated. They are stealthy, lethal, and persistent. They are an important strategic asset that the Canadian Armed Forces brings to the table when working with our partners and allies around the world,” said Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd, Commander Royal Canadian Navy.

“HMCS Chicoutimi conducted a well-executed patrol to the Asia-Pacific region to operate with our partners, and allies – a clear signal of the strategic importance of the region to Canada, that reinforces Canada’s commitment to the maintenance of regional peace, and security,” said Captain (N) Chris Robinson, Commander Canadian Submarine Force.

HMCS Chicoutimi deployed on patrol in the Asia-Pacific region as part of a strategic engagement mission, for 197 days. This is the longest Victoria-class deployment to date. Prior to this the longest Victoria-class single deployment was a 101-day North Atlantic patrol by HMCS Windsor in 2015. HMCS Windsor is once again deployed, currently supporting NATO operations in the Mediterranean Sea.

HMCS Chicoutimi operated with the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and the United States Navy (USN) for several months, a period which included participation in the annual USN-JMSDF ANNUALEX – a three week bi-lateral exercise which was made tri-lateral for the first time with the inclusion of Canada in 2017.

HMCS Chicoutimi visited Hawaii, Guam, and Japan during the six-month deployment. The visit to Yokosuka, Japan was the first by a Canadian submarine since the visit by HMCS Grilse in May 1968.

HMCS Chicoutimi conducted two Rest and Maintenance Periods, in Japan and the US territory of Guam, supported by deployed maintenance teams from the RCN Fleet Maintenance Facility based in Esquimalt. These periods further refined processes for deployed maintenance and support activities.

HMCS Chicoutimi is one of four Victoria-class submarines in the RCN. Chicoutimi along with HMCS Victoria and HMCS Corner Brook are based out of CFB Esquimalt, while HMCS Windsor is based at CFB Halifax in Nova Scotia.

Victoria-class submarines are extremely versatile, allowing them to operate in any weather condition for periods of up to 45 days, and perform in a variety of roles to fulfill Canada’s requirements for a balanced, multi-purpose and combat-effective naval fleet.

Don Martin: Waving the White Flag on Canada as a Middle Military Power

By: Don Martin, CTVNews, Host of PowerPlay 

The most uplifting takeaway from my 2007 Afghanistan embedding with the troops was hearing how our soldiers had never been prouder to serve than being in combat against the tyranny of the Taliban.

But a decade later, that pride has gone along with the fall in our status as a middle military power.

We continue to negotiate to buy hand-me-down jets from the Aussies. Combat ship building languishes on the drawing boards as the price tag soars. And with new supply ships delayed by at least four years, the substitute vessel can’t actually venture into dangerous environments where the navy usually goes.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reviews an honour guard at the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre in Yavoriv, Ukraine Tuesday July 12, 2016. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Sure there is a small training mission in Ukraine and a mid-sized Latvia deployment to deter Russian aggression.

And let’s not forget the mostly idle Operation Impact, a $370-million exercise monitoring Iraq for signs of ISIS life with zero actual impact on protecting the region.

But the final insult to Canada’s military status downgrade was a small CBC story this week.

Military documents revealed the defence minister couldn’t bring himself to send a tiny group of soldiers for UN peacekeeping duty in Colombia.

Consider the context of this unfathomable display of military risk avoidance.

Colombia is a country where two civil-warring factions have disarmed and declared a peaceful end to a 50-year conflict. That means it’s the peacekeeping equivalent of monitoring a Grade four class in the playground during recess.

Yet inexplicably Canada dithered, pondering the potential danger of the mission until the spots were filled by other countries which didn’t consider the world’s safest peacekeeping assignment too risky to join.

This has got to leave Canada’s war-hardened Chief of Defence Staff avoiding eye contact in the mirror.

Jonathan Vance didn’t sign up to watch countries like Jordan, Denmark, Holland and even Rwanda deliver peacekeeping in extremely dangerous Mali while Canada goes AWOL in offering to monitor the coffee grow in Colombia.

Two years after Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan began scouring the world for places to help, we still have 600 troops waiting for a reason to deploy.

Our 50,000-plus combat-ready troops, trapped on base by the government’s pacifist preference to avoid a world filled with conflict, must be mortified that all missions are seemingly impossible.

By refusing to accept even the softest assignment for blue helmet peacekeeping, the Canadian government has waved the white flag as a middle military power.

That’s the Last Word.

On Peacekeeping, Canada is Failing the Global Community

By: Ian J. Keddie, Macleans Magazine 

General Jonathan Vance, Canada’s chief of defence staff, has a confident and relaxed way about him. But when he opened the second day of the Conference of Defence Association in Ottawa last week, and then answered questions from reporters on the country’s peacekeeping operations, the tone seemed wrong for the moment. “The UN has spaces available for nations to contribute to, should they wish. We understand what those spaces available are,” said Gen. Vance, adding that the government is in preliminary stages of planning such a deployment “We are in what I would call the planning stages to deploy forces. We’re trying to match best fit to best missions with the capability that we have. So it’s a work in progress, but it’s going well.”

The optimism of that tone came in stark contrast to the many speakers who highlighted the government’s failure to carry through with a 2016 pledge to deploy up to 750 personnel on international peacekeeping missions in addition to the 112 which were deployed at the time of the announcement. The most recent figures from the United Nations show that Canada’s commitment has reached an all-time low, and now stands at just 43 peacekeeping personnel at present. This represents the lowest number of uniformed personnel and lowest global military contribution for Canada since 1956.

The Liberal government maintains that it is merely awaiting the right opportunity to deliver on 2016’s promises. Gen. Vance’s suggestion that Canada is in the “the planning stages to deploy forces” maintains the idea that the government is still searching for deployments that Canadian forces can support and the Prime Minister’s own speech at the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial in Vancouver in November 2017 outlined the need for Canada to deliver more. “We are making these pledges today, because we believe in the United Nations and we believe in peacekeeping,” the Prime Minister said at the time, as he called for a new era in peacekeeping.

But rather than delivering a reinvigorated peacekeeping effort, two years of handwringing by the Trudeau administration has seen Canada revert to a pre-Pearson era level of deployment. Experts agree that decision-making has become paralyzed and that the Liberal government seems reluctant to follow through on its promises. “Canada has let the UN down,” said Dr. Walter Dorn of the Canadian Forces College. “If you actually look at the pledges we would have more than 750 uniformed personnel and we’re down at an all-time low. It’s a disappointment and at this point, you could say it’s a broken promise.” Dorn puts the blame at desks of the most senior figures in the current administration: “I think it’s at the cabinet level: the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and the Foreign Minister just haven’t got their act together.”

Even more disappointing is that the original troop pledge was sold as a sign of Canada’s commitment to the international community. “This government came to power with the promise of doing real peacekeeping and then has repeatedly told the UN and lots of countries that might want to vote for Canada for the next security council seat,” said Stephen M. Saideman, the Paterson Chair in International Affairs at Carleton University.

While many of the conference attendees condemned the low number of peacekeeping personnel being deployed, there was disagreement over how Canada should move forward. Dorn suggested that operations in Africa could be more palatable, pointing that peacekeeping operations in Mali are less dangerous and less expensive than most people perceive. “The fatality rate is a factor of five less in Mali (when compared to Afghanistan), and the type of equipment you need is less expensive and the UN pays back a substantial portion of your costs,” he said. But Saideman thinks that missions in Africa would prove challenging for Canadian forces. “As far as I understand it, most of the places that Canada would be asked to go in Africa are actually quite risky. The Japanese have pulled out of the South Sudan because it’s falling apart. The DRC—600 troops would be a drop in the bucket. The people that I know that have gone to Mali suggest that it’s a counterinsurgency war, it’s not a peacekeeping campaign.” Saideman added that Canada already missed an ideal opportunity: “If I was advising the government I would’ve told them to go to Colombia last year, because I think that would’ve been a far less risky endeavour, but that would have made a contribution.”

If the government is going to continue to wait for a less risky peacekeeping opportunity, then there might not be any decision in the near future. If Colombia was the ideal deployment, as Saideman suggests, then it is unlikely Canada will find something suitable in the current trouble spots of the world. Trudeau and his cabinet have made numerous pledges of peacekeeping to the international community but those promises will fall on deaf ears, particularly to countries such as India, Pakistan, and Ethiopia who contribute thousands of troops to UN missions. It will likely come down to voters at home as to whether or not the government should take its pledges more seriously though.

With such a low number of peacekeeping personnel on operations, it is hard to believe the government can ignore the glaring contradiction in rhetoric versus action for much longer. If Canada truly wants to contribute to peace operations on a meaningful scale once again, it comes with an inherent risk. While there may be some missions that are better suited for Canadian expertise and equipment, it’s clear that the government has given every option some consideration over the last couple of years—but any further delay clearly rests on the desks of the Foreign, Defence, and Prime Ministers.

On Target: Expanded role in Iraq doesn’t make sense for Canada

By: Scott Taylor, The Chronicle Herald

Last Thursday Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan emerged from a NATO conference in Brussels and hinted that Canada would be willing to support the Alliance’s request for an expanded training role in Iraq.

Sajjan could offer no specifics on how many Canadian soldiers would be involved or what their role would be, but somehow he remains confident that this time around the training of the Iraqi Security Forces will be successful.

What makes Sajjan’s broad comments laughable is that we still do not know which faction in this complex conflict our soldiers will be training. We presently have a few hundred elite commandos sitting idle in Iraq because their training missions in support of both Kurdish militia and Iraqi government troops were suspended after these two groups began fighting each other.
There is also a handful of Canadian combat engineers in Iraq conducting training in regard to the clearing of booby traps and unexploded munitions.

However, in a bizarre move last June, the Trudeau Liberals promised to keep our military in Iraq until the summer of 2019. At the time this arbitrary mission extension was announced, Daesh (a.k.a. ISIS or ISIL) was already reduced to a handful of diehard zealots fighting in the rubble of Mosul.
As expected, the last of the Daesh evildoers were eliminated just a few weeks later, and equally predictable was the fact that the diverse factions of the U.S.-led, anti-Daesh coalition began to fight among themselves.

Now NATO wants to bring in more elite trainers to train more young Iraqi men how to fire weapons and drive tanks. With Canada having pledged our military support for another 18 months at least, the decision for Sajjan to join this new training mission was a no-brainer. We are there anyway, doing nothing until the summer of 2019, so why not?

However, for Sajjan to think this is a successful strategy is sheer folly.

Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. This is exactly what the West continues to do in conflict after conflict, with the same failed result of increased violence and instability instead of the desired end-state of a secure environment.

In Afghanistan in 2001, after the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban, NATO members including Canada contributed troops to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). As the name implies, ISAF was to assist the Afghans in achieving a secure environment.

The plan from the outset was for NATO to train and equip a self-sufficient Afghan Security Force. Seventeen years later, the alliance has trained hundreds of thousands of young Afghan males how to kill, and poured in massive arsenals of weaponry in the name of security.

The result has been a steady increase in factional violence and a free-fall descent into violent anarchy. The proposed solution by NATO generals? More training and more weapons for Afghans.

In 2003, following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the decision was made by the administration of President George W. Bush to immediately disband all of Saddam’s security forces — army, police, border guards, the lot.

This resulted in months of absolute anarchy, looting and factional bloodletting. As the Iraqi insurgency grew around them, the Americans began recruiting, training and equipping a new Iraqi security force.

By the time President Barrack Obama withdrew U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011, the Americans had trained and equipped hundreds of thousands of Iraqi soldiers.

However, when Daesh spilled into Iraq from Syria in the summer of 2014, this U.S.-trained force collapsed like a cheap suitcase. The huge, U.S.-supplied arsenal of modern weapons and armoured vehicles were abandoned to Daesh with hardly a shot fired.

Now that Daesh has finally been defeated in Iraq, NATO’s answer is to train more Iraqis how to kill and to bring in more weapons. Sajjan agrees to send Canadians and he assures reporters that this time it will work.

By Einstein’s reckoning, our defence minister is completely insane. And he is not alone.

Full Operational Capability of Canada’s New Fighter Jets Won’t Happen until 2031

By Tim Naumetz, iPolitics

The planned government acquisition of a new fleet of 88 fighter jets will not be completed with full operational capability until 2031 – 14 years after defence and procurement officials launched the project last December.

A timetable for the acquisition that was shared with aerospace industry representatives at an industry event on Jan. 22 confirms there will be at least four years of information exchanges with potential suppliers and contract bidders before a contract award in either 2021 or 2022.

Following another two-years set-up phase for aspects involving infrastructure, future maintenance, facility development, operations and “initial cadre training” at the “host nation” producing the aircraft, the first aircraft delivery is scheduled for 2025.

After that, another six years are slated for gradual acquisition of the fleet and pilot training, with an acquisition average of at least 12 jets each year and “steady state full operational capacity” in 2031.

By then, three federal elections will have been held since the project’s launch in December 2017.

2031 is also the year the timetable projects for the retirement of what remains of Canada’s legacy fleet of CF-18 hornets – already upgraded and modernized several times since their acquisition under the government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the 1980s.

A military expert says the time frame would be routine for a project of similar scope and complexity, but the CF-18 replacement project has been in the works since at least 2007.

“If you’re looking at a project of that degree and complexity, from a genuine start point 14 years is probably not at all out of the ordinary,” said David Perry, senior analyst and a vice-president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

“But the thing is, this file did not start on December 12. The previous government did an exhaustive review of options. The clock on this starts at least a decade ago,”

All of the aircraft from five different companies in Europe and the United States who have been invited to compete underwent a thorough market analysis under the Conservatives. The Harper government suspended its plan to acquire 65 Lockheed-Martin F-35 warplanes following a raging controversy after the 2011 federal election.

“All timelines are estimated and subject to change,” the briefing document said, a copy of which was obtained by iPolitics.

National Defence and Procurement Canada officials at the project’s launch last Dec. 12 said the acquisition is expected to cost between $15 billion and $19 billion, not counting infrastructure, training, other development aspects and sustainment through the fleet’s lifetime.

The estimate works out to an expected cost of between $170 million and $216 million per fighter jet with a fleet of 88.

Future of Canada's Role in Iraq Still Uncertain

By: David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan will travel to Rome and Brussels from February 13-15 to participate in a meeting of defence ministers from the main force contributors in the war against the Islamic State. Sajjan will also participate in a meeting of NATO defence ministers.

His trip comes as the Liberal government has yet to decide what comes next for Canadian military personnel involved in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Training by Canadian special forces for Kurdish personnel is still suspended.

Sajjan said in late December that he hoped to have a better idea of the future direction of Canada’s mission in Iraq even as the U.S. and Iraq have declared Islamic extremists defeated.

Sajjan said at that time the Canadian Forces leadership was developing options for what is to come next and that advice was expected in early 2018.

The Liberal government has extended Canada’s mission in Iraq until at least March 2019.

Following the meetings on ISIL, Sajjan will travel to Munich from February 16-17 to attend the annual Munich Security Conference, a global forum focused on defence and security related issues, his office said.

Arrival of Used F-18s Delayed until Late 2019; 2022 before all Delivered

By: Murray Brewster, CBC News 

It will be 2022 before the Royal Canadian Air Force receives all of the used Australian fighter jets the Liberal government intends to purchase, says senior defence official.

Royal Australian Air Force FA-18 Hornets fly over the Australian Formula One Grand Prix race track located at Albert Park in Melbourne Feb. 28, 2002. Canada has agreed to buy 18 of the jets from Australia. (Reuters)

The plan was rolled out with much fanfare at the end of last year because the air force has faced — in the words of Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan — an "urgent capability gap" and is not able to meet its NATO and Norad commitments at the same time.

Pat Finn, who is in charge of the materiale branch of National Defence, told CBC News in a recent interview a final agreement is still months away.

He is confident, however, everything will come together.

Delivery is "staggered over three years," Finn said.

The Trudeau government announced in December it would buy 18 used Australian "classic" FA-18s as an interim measure to bolster the air force until the entire Canadian fleet of CF-18s is replaced, beginning in the mid-2020s.

It had wanted to buy brand new Boeing Super Hornets, the newer, bigger, more advanced version of the FA-18 and CF-18. The plan was scuttled when the manufacturer, Chicago-based Boeing, filed a trade complaint against Canadian aerospace giant Bombardier.

No price tag for the Australian deal was released at the time of the formal announcement, which was made by Sajjan and Public Works Minister Carla Qualtrough.
Ongoing discussions

Finn said those details are still being worked out.

The Liberal government said in December the first used fighters, which were purchased by Australia around the same Canada bought its CF-18s, would arrive by January 2019.

Finn said the delivery schedule is being finalized, but he anticipates receiving the first two warplanes by the summer of that year.

Another one would follow by the end of the year, but much depends on the Royal Australian Air Force and how quickly it retires the fighters and the age of what's being offered.

"They, of course, release aircraft as they get aircraft," Finn said. "We do not necessarily want the oldest aircraft, so we would like to have an ongoing discussion."

He said there is some flexibility and if "summer '19 turns into" something a few months later because they can get a better jet, then it's something that can be negotiated.

The Australian government is in the process of seeking permission to sell the planes because they were originally manufactured in the U.S.

Once the Australian warplanes arrive in Canada, they will need to be given life-extension modifications that will bring them up to the standard of the CF-18s, which have been modified to continuing flying until 2025.

It stands in stark contrast to the urgency with which the Liberals initially painted the shortage of fighter aircraft.

Minister of National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said Canada has an 'urgent capability gap' and can't meet its NATO and Norad commitments, yet the timeline for new jets keeps being moved back. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

"In 2025, the CF-18s will not be able to fly, and it is important that we move very quickly in filling this capability gap." said Sajjan in June 2016.

Finn said the air force is managing the capability gap by making more CF-18s available for operations on a daily basis.

"We're basically working right now to increase the availability of our current airplanes," he said.

Experts say that would mean pouring more than expected into the maintenance budget in order to keep fighters on the flight line.
Urgent purchase?

One defence analyst said the government has a strange definition of urgent.

"Nothing about the handling of this file lines up with the identification of it as an urgent need, either the interim or the permanent purchase," said Dave Perry, an expert in procurement at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

He said he believes it will present a political headache for the Liberals come the next election.

"The fact that this government may, at best, have a couple of second-hand aircraft before the next election after having identified an urgent need to acquire new fighter aircraft is just incredible," he said.

When the Australian deal was announced, the government also laid out a timeline for the full replacement of the CF-18s, which were purchased in the 1980s, but extensively modified and upgraded in the early 2000s.

Public Works recently held a consultation day with defence contractors, but Perry says no one seems to understand why it will take until the early 2020s to launch the competition.

When the former Conservative government was struggling over whether to buy the F-35 stealth fighter, it conducted extensive research on the alternatives and possible types of warplanes Canada would need.

That research, which conceivable could move things along faster, was largely discarded by the Liberals and is gathering dust on a shelf, Perry says.

Canada's CF-18s were purchased in the 1980s and upgraded in the 2000s. (CBC)

The Future of Canada's Iraq Mission

By: Murray Brewster, CBC News 

A captured ISIS battle flag hangs in a glass case on the wall outside the Ottawa office of the commander of Canada's special forces.

A hard-earned prize from a misunderstood war.

Losing "the colours" is a humiliation for any military unit, a sign the battle, and maybe even the war, has been lost.

The black flag, with white Arabic letters declaring, "There is no God but Allah," is also a startling, visceral reminder of how much of the three-year conflict in northern Iraq has played out away from the public spotlight.

It also raises the question of whether Canada's involvement has run its course.

Canadian special forces look over a Peshmerga observation post in northern Iraq last February. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

The Trudeau government committed last June to keep troops in the war-torn country until 2019, but it has never been clear about what those troops would do there once ISIS was expelled.

Just before Christmas, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan signalled the mission would get another makeover, but was vague on what it would look like.

The question military commanders are grappling with is whether this next phase of the war will fall within the strict political lines laid down by two successive governments.

Special forces troops were mandated to "advise and assist" but not take part in offensive combat alongside the Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces. The expulsion of ISIS, also known as Daesh, which fought large conventional battles to hold on to the territory it seized in 2014, did require Canadians to shoot to protect themselves and their allies.

Mission accomplished?

Last fall, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi effectively declared his country's war with ISIS over.

But while ISIS may have been defeated as a military force, it is far from dead, said Maj.-Gen. Mike Rouleau. The commander of Canada's special forces has drafted recommendations for the next steps as they pertain to his troops.

"The threat is going to morph," Rouleau told CBC News in a recent interview.

"What is Daesh going to do next? If they are not landowners with an overt military presence and heavy weapons in the hinterland, we believe they are probably going to go underground."

Going underground would mean the Iraqis and Kurds would have to be taught to fight a counter-insurgency and counterterrorism war, or at the very least, supported in their own elite forces operations.

It is a much more delicate, precise kind of warfare.

"It's much more intelligence-driven," Rouleau said.

"So, it's a slightly different skill set. It's too early for me to tell you whether [the new mission] is going to have a training component to it — or just an advise, assist component. But these are all the things we are looking at."
Combat vs. non-combat

The political debate about whether the special forces were engaged in "combat" in Iraq has dogged the governments of both Stephen Harper and now Justin Trudeau.

The precise — sometimes hair-splitting — explanations boiled down to this: it wasn't considered combat unless Canadian troops planned an operation and took the offensive. Officials have insisted the latter never happened.

Avoiding direct combat is something the Canadian government, particularly the Liberal government, has been keen to do.

But counter-insurgency and counterterrorism is all about going on the offensive and even taking pre-emptive action against an enemy.

A resident of Tabqa, Syria, waves an ISIS flag after militants reportedly seized control of an air base near Raqqa in 2014. ISIS has since been defeated in much of Iraq and Syria. (Reuters)

Rouleau visited Iraq last month as part of his assessment.

He would not discuss the specifics of what he is recommending to the chief of the defence staff and by extension the government, but it is becoming evident the mission has reached a fork in the road.

Rouleau said it remains to be seen whether his "options are squarely within the mandate the government gave us."

"At this juncture, I believe they will be under the advise, assist and potentially accompany regime."
Reconstruction needed

Other senior defence officials, speaking on background, said there is also the possibility that the special forces could continue with traditional military training of Iraqis and Kurds.

That would be to ensure Iraqi forces hold together in the future and don't melt away in the face of an enemy, the way they did when ISIS fighters swept out of Syria in 2014 and captured vast swaths of Iraqi territory.

Canada's special forces arrived on the ground in the fall of that year and began training the Peshmerga in conventional battle skills.

But that co-operation came to a screeching halt a few months ago when fighting erupted between independence-minded Kurds and the Iraqi army, which wanted to impose the authority of the central government in Baghdad.

In this 2016 photo, a partially destroyed ISIS banner hangs at the entrance to Qayara, Iraq, where oil wells were set alight by militant fighters attempting to obstruct airstrikes as Iraqi forces took control of the area. (Susannah George/Associated Press)

Aside from training, there is also a large role for Western forces in reconstruction, particularly around recently liberated Mosul, the country's second largest city.

ISIS extremists, as they retreated, sowed many ruined buildings and streets with mines and booby traps. Some estimates last summer suggested it could take up to a decade to rid the city of explosives entirely.

United Nations officials have said Iraq will need a de-mining program similar to the one instituted in Afghanistan, which employed 15,000 people at its peak.

Canada currently has combat engineers training Iraqis in the finer points of dismantling bombs.

A helicopter detachment, two C-130J Hercules transports, intelligence officers and a Role 2 combat hospital are also stationed in Iraq.

CAF Plan to Arm Kurds On Hold

By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch 

During a Wednesday news conference with Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, I asked the minister a direct question about the Iraq mission: “Do you still intend to provide arms to the Kurds?”

The minister, talking to journalists via phone from London, England, seemed taken back and stumbled for an answer. Sajjan then reverted to his standard talking points about wanting to work closely with the Iraqis. But he really didn’t answer the question.

Then on Thursday, the reason became apparent. Justin Ling broke a story on Buzzfeed noting that the weapons purchased by Canadian tax dollars are in storage in Montreal. The Iraqi government is refusing to give approval for the weapons to be delivered to the Kurds, he reported.

Iraqi troops attacked Kurdish forces after the Kurdish Regional Government announced plans to declare an independent state in the northern part of the country, including the oil-rich area around Kirkuk.

Iraqi forces seized Kirkuk and the Kurds retreated. The region faces further upheaval, as protests started on Monday after demonstrators took to the streets calling for the resignation of the Kurdish Regional Government. A number of government buildings were set on fire, and at least five protesters have been killed by security forces and dozens wounded. Some hospital officials put the number of wounded at more than 100.

The demonstrators are protesting against government corruption, the failure of the KRG to provide basic services and a lack of pay for civil servants — and there remains anger over the failed independence bid.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in February 2016 that Canada would provide weapons to the Kurds in support of their efforts against ISIL.

Canada had planned to provide the Kurds with gear including .50-calibre sniper rifles equipped with silencers, 60mm mortars, as well as Carl Gustav anti-tank systems, as well as grenade launchers, pistols, carbines, thermal binoculars, cameras, scopes and medical supplies.

But that doesn’t appear like it is going to happen.

No specific delivery plans have been made by Canada, a Department of National Defence spokesman told Defence Watch.

“As is the case for any CAF operation, our contributions are constantly under assessment in order to ensure all appropriate strategic and tactical steps are taken,” he noted. “Canada also has a responsibility to ensure any provisions of equipment and small arms such aid is provided under the right conditions.”

The lethal equipment that has been acquired to date is currently stored in Canada at the 25 Canadian Forces Supply Depot in Montréal, QC. The supply depot is run by the Canadian Materiel Support Group, which is responsible for providing operational-level support through the delivery of materiel and assigned logistics services to the CAF and the DND.

Canada Assessing Iraq Military Role Post-ISIL

By: Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- Military commanders are re-assessing Canada's future role in Iraq as declarations of victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have been met with new rifts and tensions across the war-ravaged country.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced earlier this month that the country had been "fully liberated" from ISIL after the militant group, also known as Daesh, was cleared from the last pockets of territory that it had held in the country.

The proclamation capped three years of often intense fighting that first started when ISIL captured large swaths of Iraq and Syria in 2014 and declared the creation of a self-styled caliphate.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told reporters following a visit to the Middle East this week that victory came faster than Canada and its allies had expected, and the focus now is on ensuring stability in Iraq after ISIL.

The military will present options to the government in the new year, though it seems evident that Canadian forces will be training Iraqi counterparts to protect against various threats from inside and outside the country.

Sajjan did not give any indication that the government was planning to end Canada's military mission in Iraq, which was extended this past summer to March 2019.

"The progress against Daesh has gone actually quite well, to the point where we are actually ahead of schedule based on our plan," he said by telephone from London, where he was meeting with his British counterpart.

"As you know, we've taken 100 per cent of the territory but a lot more work needs to be done to make sure that stability within the nation remains and the capacity building needs to start."

But despite ISIL's defeat on the battlefield, peace and stability remain fleeting in many parts of Iraq as long-standing divisions and tensions have started to re-emerge and even erupt into violence.

The most recent incident has seen three days of deadly protests in Iraq's Kurdistan region, where the main Kurdish political parties have turned on each other amid allegations of corruption.

The Kurds have also been at odds with the central government in Baghdad after holding a non-binding referendum on independence in September, which set off a series of limited skirmishes.

The federal government, which had largely ignored warnings of such a development for years, responded by ordering Canadian forces in Iraq to suspend all assistance to their Iraqi and Kurdish allies.

That order remains in effect.

There have also been complaints about the slow pace of reconstruction in Iraq, particularly in Sunni-dominated areas, and concerns about Iran's growing influence with the Shia-controlled government in Baghdad.

The government is also looking at what additional aid efforts are needed to rebuild the country, Sajjan said, and bring its various ethnic and religious factions back together.

"We're committed to making sure that we can continue the great work that has begun with the military but also making sure that the rehabilitation piece is there, that political stability also remains," he said.

Canada Announces Purchase of 18 Australian F/A-18s

The Associated Press 

A Royal Australian Air Force F-18 fighter on a training mission. (Royal Australian Air Force)

Canada has ditched a plan to buy 18 Super Hornet jet fighters from U.S.-based Boeing Co. and will instead buy 18 used F-18 fighters from Australia.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had previously warned that Canada would stop doing business with Boeing if the company doesn't drop a trade complaint against Canadian plane maker Bombardier, and the government warned again on Tuesday that Boeing would have little chance of winning a new contract for 88 additional fighter jets under the status quo.

Trudeau's government also said Tuesday that it would assess companies' overall impact on Canada's economy before buying the 88 additional fighter jets to replace its aging F-18s.

"Bidders responsible for harming Canada's economic interest will be at a distinct disadvantage compared to bidders who aren't engaged in detrimental behavior," Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough said.

Boeing spokesman Scott Day acknowledged that the statement was directed toward the company and said that Boeing respects the Canadian government's decision to buy the Australian planes. Day also said the company would review the requirements for the new fleet and emphasized what he said was Boeing's long-term presence in Canada.

"I think you have to let our record speak for itself," Day said in an email.

Boeing claims Bombardier's new C Series passenger aircraft receives subsidies that give it an advantage internationally.

Canada had been in talks to purchase the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet fighter jets from Boeing in an effort to bridge the gap between its aging F-18s and the new fighter fleet that it plans to purchase.

But officials said the Australian jets will cost significantly less than Super Hornets and can be put into action two years earlier. "We have received an offer for sale of F-18 aircraft from the government of Australia, which we intend to pursue, and we have received an offer of Super Hornets from the U.S. government, which we intend to let expire," Qualtrough said.

Jonathan Vance, chief of the defense staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, said Canada can't meet its domestic and international obligations without some form of supplemental capability until the future fighter fleet is in place and the Australian jets will work fine.

Canada will begin receiving deliveries of the used Australian jets next year. The value of the deal is about $388 million.

Vance expects the fleet of 88 next-generation fighters to arrive in 2025, and the government said the competition would be open to all companies as bidding gets underway.

Analysts see the F-35 made by Boeing rival Lockheed Martin as a likely contender, even though Trudeau has said it is too expensive. Trudeau has since softened that stance.

Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said the new fleet of planes is required to meet Canada commitments to NATO and the North American Aerospace Defense Command.