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op:Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan and Transport Minister Marc Garneau will hold a press conference at the Cartier Square Drill Hall in Ottawa on June 7, 2017, to announce Canada’s new Defence Policy.
Following the announcement, Minister Sajjan, Minister Garneau, and Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance will participate in a Q&A with media.
Media who are unable to attend the press conference in person may join by teleconference. Please note, no questions will be taken from the phone line.
A media lock-up and technical briefing will start at 10:30 a.m. and will be held at the Senior Non-Commissioned Members Mess in Ottawa. Media will be under embargo until the Minister of National Defence commences his remarks at the press conference.
Registration and Entry
Entry to the media lock-up is restricted to journalists who have pre-registered and submitted a signed undertaking. To register for the media lock-up or the teleconference of the press conference, contact the Department of National Defence Media Relations Office at 613-996-2353 or mlo-blm@forces.gc.ca by 5:00 p.m. EDT June 5, 2017. Media attending the lock-up and technical briefing should arrive no later than 10:00 a.m. in order to check in.
Media who do not pre-register will not be allowed entry into the media lock-up.
Set-up of camera equipment will begin at 11:30 a.m. on June 7, 2017, at the Cartier Square Drill Hall.
Event: Media Lock-up and Technical Briefing
Time: Check in begins at 10:00 a.m.; media lock-up will start at 10:30 a.m.
Date: June 7, 2017
Location: Senior Non-Commissioned Members Mess, 4 Queen Elizabeth Dr., Ottawa, ON
Event: Press Conference with Minister Sajjan, Minister Garneau, and Chief of the Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Date: June 7, 2017
Location: Cartier Square Drill Hall, 2 Queen Elizabeth Dr., Ottawa, ON
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Credibility.SeaKingTacco said:I am curious: why does the Minister of Transport have to be present at a Defence Policy announcement?
SeaKingTacco said:I am curious: why does the Minister of Transport have to be present at a Defence Policy announcement?
SeaKingTacco said:I am curious: why does the Minister of Transport have to be present at a Defence Policy announcement?
Good2Golf said:Spaceman Marc was The Architect's fire-team buddy last time around...experience, perhaps?
G2G
SeaKingTacco said:I am curious: why does the Minister of Transport have to be present at a Defence Policy announcement?
Not so long ago ...Good2Golf said:Spaceman Marc was The Architect's fire-team buddy last time around...experience, perhaps?
G2G
E.R. Campbell said:There is an opportunity, given Russia's renewed attention to the Arctic, for Prime Minister designate Trudeau to reorient Canada's foreign and defence policies in directions that may please more Canadians than did Prime Minister Harper's:
First: get out of thew Middle East ~ completely out;
Second: stay engaged in Eastern Europe with a mix of naval, land and air elements;
Third: focus more and more attention on the North ~
a. Commit to defined (larger) number of AOPS and to accelerating the construction of the CCGS John G Diefenbaker;
b. Increase the number, duration, frequency, intensity and, especially, visibility of Army exercises in the North;
c. Keep the promise to cancel the F-35 but commit to buying aircraft (fighter/interceptors and long range patrol) that will do better at maintaining sovereignty over the Arctic; and
d. Commit to an integrated space, air, terrestrial and underwater sensor/warning/communications system to give Canada near real time coverage of all the territory and contiguous waters (and maritime approaches) we claim as our own and the airspace over both.
Oldgateboatdriver said:Funny you should mention that. China just released its Arctic strategy:
http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/declaring-itself-a-near-arctic-state-china-to-drive-a-polar-silk-road-off-canadas-north
However, before every body panics, I invite you to look at the following comment by Heather Exner-Pirot, editor of the Arctic Yearbook, the article quotes:
Despite its legendary status as the last great world trade route, Canada’s Northwest Passage isn’t actually a great way to cross the Arctic. If China is trying to find a faster way to get container ships to the Atlantic, they would be better served by sailing through Russia’s Northeast Passage.
“People will use (the Northwest Passage) mostly for destinational shipping; going there to get resources or drop off supplies, then leaving,” said Exner-Pirot.
She added that the vast majority of China’s Arctic spending “has been taking place in Russia’s Arctic with Russia and Russian companies.”
And there is good reason for that. I truly wish people trying to comment on the Arctic would get themselves globes instead of maps. Looking at a globe, you can see that, as a "short cut" between Asia and Europe, it is a lot shorter (by 1200 NM for the leg from passing through the Bearing strait to Amsterdam) to go by way of the North East passage, just to the North of Russia, than through the North West passage.
If one such passage is open to navigation, so is the other one.
That, BTW, is the reason for Russia's Arctic expansion of its military: to provide for the protection of their own waters and territory (that at their closest point, are still more than a 1000 Km from Canada's territory) - not because the Russian hordes are coming over an ocean (the Arctic ocean) that is three times the size of the Mediterranean sea just for the fun of coming into our Archipelago.
That does not absolve Canada from getting the means of knowing what is going on in our side of the Arctic.
One important aspect to note is China's recognition of international law in the Arctic.
I will repeat again here my personal view: The faster Canada abandons its, IMHO, ridiculous position that everything within our Arctic archipelago is "internal" waters (on the fallacious claim that when frozen, the Inuits travel by foot over it so it's like "land") and acts on the basis of international law as regards Territorial Sea, Exclusive Economic Zone and International Straits, the better things will be.
The US Coast Guard has already started to set up a non-reporting separation scheme in the Bearing strait to assist commercial transits. In my mind, it is important that Canada follow suit, and do one better, by setting up a reporting traffic control scheme for the North-West passage and set up inspection stations at both ends for pollution control (and just about everybody in the world seem to agree that the Arctic ecosystem must be protected). This would do more for our sovereignty than the current ridiculous claim, especially since it is completely unsupported on the ground (or ice ).