Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy says it would be shocking to the average American to see the United States invade Canada. Dunleavy made his remarks in an onstage discussion at the Global Business Forum in Banff, Alta., days after Prime Minister Mark Carney told the New York Times that his government has studied the "extreme tail risk" of U.S.-led military action...
The federal government has announced a preliminary agreement for the acquisition of six GlobalEye detection aircraft that would be built in Canada by the Swedish firm Saab in collaboration with Canada’s Bombardier. In a statement on Friday, the government said the agreement will serve as the basis for final negotiations surrounding the purchase of these radar aircraft and the production...
We’ve known for months that Canada’s Armed Forces have done some thinking about the admittedly remote possibility that Donald Trump’s United States might launch some kind of military action against this country. Anonymous government officials told the Globe and Mail back in January that the military had modelled a “hypothetical” U.S. invasion, apparently for the first time in a century...
The Canadian government is using at least 1,600 Chinese-made drones across more than a dozen public service departments with varying security protocols, documents tabled in Parliament show. The RCMP is the biggest user by far with 1,027 of the drones, but says it has avoided using them in national security operations and will look elsewhere as it prepares to use...
A day after Prime Minister Mark Carney told a U.S. media outlet his government has studied the possibility of U.S.-led military action in Canada, Defence Minister David McGuinty says all militaries analyze such risks. McGuinty is downplaying the significance of comments Carney made to the New York Times on Wednesday indicating Ottawa has examined the possibility of American military action...
Canada’s first F-35 has taken to the skies. It’s the first new model of fighter jet with Canadian markings in 44 years. But a milestone that would normally be heavily promoted, passed with barely a word from Canada’s military. The historic first flight took place Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas, home to Lockheed Martin’s final assembly plant.
NATO chiefs of defence have elected German Gen. Carsten Breuer as the next chair of the alliance's military committee, over Canada's top military commander. Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan ran against Breuer for the top NATO position. NATO chiefs of defence met in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday to choose the next chair. It's a prestige posting but it...
NATO chiefs of defence are meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, today to choose the next chair of the alliance's military committee, and Canada's top military commander is in the running. Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan is running against German Gen. Carsten Breuer for the top NATO position. It's a prestige posting but it doesn't carry the same level...
Top military commanders from 32 Western nations will vote Saturday on whether they prefer Canada's chief of the defence staff or her German counterpart to lead a significant NATO committee. Gen. Jennie Carignan and Gen. Carsten Breuer are vying for the top job at the NATO Military Committee, a post not held by a Canadian in almost two decades.
The United States–Canada relationship is being directly affected by a global reordering that is impacting all aspects of international relations. The prevailing Canadian view was that the centerpiece of that relationship was its trade agreements — first the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), then the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) — which had provided prosperity to Canada for several decades...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has formally applied to join the U.K.-led Joint Expeditionary Force as a full-time member, a bid that London is supporting. The joint force is a military coalition made up of 10 NATO allies which was struck in 2014 to create a quick-response force. Canada's military has worked with the force in multinational drills but...
The United Kingdom and Canada are talking about merging their proposed defence financing initiatives to amplify their effects, says a senior Canadian government official. The official, who was briefing reporters on background, says Ottawa is confident they'll reach an agreement on bringing the two proposals together to form a joint institution, though that decision may not emerge from meetings this...
Britain is in talks with Canada about joining the Canadian-led defence financing bank, according to a Canadian government source. The subject is expected to come up during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to Britain this week, which will include Wednesday meetings with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and a stop in Liverpool where the pair will watch an Everton Football...
Calian Group Ltd. has signed a deal to form a partnership with Ukrainian technology and defence company SkyFall that will focus on drone-enabled defence training. The partnership will see SkyFall and Calian develop unmanned systems training and education programs for armed forces in Canada and the United Kingdom, other NATO members and allied countries.
Canada will work with Ukraine to produce "millions" of drones for the Canadian military, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday in Calgary after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "I have to confess that our Armed Forces currently have but 2,000 drones in our inventory. In the years to come, we will need millions," Carney said. He also promised more...
'There's gonna be trade-offs everywhere,' says government's point person on defence procurement. Ottawa had no guarantees that Saab's GlobalEye surveillance plane could meet military requirements when it began negotiations to acquire six of the Swedish manufacturer's early warning and control aircraft last spring, CBC News has learned.
As the Carney government pursues deeper relations with Beijing, the Chinese government reports it held "a candid and in-depth exchange" on military issues with Canadian officials. Last week's meeting followed years of diplomatic strain and is raising concerns among Conservatives, who reject the idea of military co-operation with China. China's defence ministry revealed the two countries held their fifth defence...
Canada has restarted military talks with China after a break of more than eight years that began with Beijing’s jailing of two Canadians in late 2018. The two countries held a “defence coordination dialogue” on Sept. 4, according to a statement issued the day after the meeting by China’s Ministry of National Defense. Beijing was the only side to publicly...
Ex-fighter pilot who has long been critical of U.S. jets could oversee dramatic increase in defence budget. Stephen Fuhr got his "Picasso" nickname back in his days as a fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). He'd been ordered to produce detailed attack maps, but his abstract scribbles earned him a call sign inspired by the cubist master...
Canada’s defence minister says the federal government is still assessing all available options as it weighs whether to proceed with the planned purchase of F-35 fighter jets from the United States. Ottawa has already committed to buying 16 of the advanced stealth aircraft to replace the country’s aging fleet of CF-18 Hornets. But Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered a review...
In the final-assembly hall for the Saab Gripen fighter jet in the Swedish city of Linkoping, the flags of Saab’s eight customer countries hang above the production line. A ninth spot holds a white banner reading, in red capital letters, RESERVED. Asked whether it was for Canada, a Saab official smiled, shrugged and said nothing. Behind the scenes, though, Saab...
A top American military commander on Wednesday suggested the United States is about as likely to invade Canada as it is to launch an attack on Mars. Admiral Samuel Paparo, the head of U.S. Pacific Command, was asked by a reporter at a news conference in Victoria whether he would ever follow an order from President Donald Trump to invade...
As Canadian troops crossed the Arghandab River, the first indication to former corporal Bruce Moncur that something was amiss came with the sight of a green pen flare shooting across the sky. "I remember looking at it thinking, well, that's weird," said Moncur, who realized that since NATO troops in Afghanistan fired red flares, green must have belonged to the...
Former banker Doug Guzman is expected to depart as head of the federal government’s newly created Defence Investment Agency after only a year on the job, two sources say. The sources told The Globe and Mail that Mr. Guzman is frustrated by the slow pace of government bureaucracy in getting defence procurement projects moving and approved.
Canada is playing host this week to military leaders from both the United States and China amid cross-border tensions with the Trump administration and Ottawa’s attempts to improve relations with Beijing. Canada’s chief of defence staff, Gen. Jennie Carignan, is co-hosting an annual meeting of military leaders from Indo-Pacific countries this week in Victoria, B.C. The conference, now in its...
Trade war has strengthened resolve to boost military co-operation with Europe, Asia. The flareup in the Canada-U.S. tariff war has not only strengthened Ottawa’s resolve to boost military co-operation with Europe and Asia — it's also hurting prospects of major military purchases from the United States. In an interview, the head of the Defence Investment Agency says the Canadian public...
A private Canadian firm says it chose New Brunswick as the location of a planned explosives factory. Nalagx Corp.'s chief executive Patrick Gagnon says the company decided to move ahead with a site near Belledune, N.B., after considering other provinces and two U.S. states. The province's Natural Resources Minister John Herron says his department identified 1,500 acres of government land...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says the federal government will pour more than $11 billion into Quebec's shipbuilding industry to build six new icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard. In prepared remarks, Carney calls it the largest ship shipbuilding contract in the province's history. The new icebreakers will replace the Coast Guard's aging heavy and medium icebreakers. Carney made the announcement...
Canada has kept its defence relationship with the U.S. largely on the sidelines of recent trade talks. But with negotiations broken down, experts say the likelihood of major defence procurements factoring into punitive measures taken by either side is growing.
The head of the German company in line to build Canada's new submarines is pushing for more co-operation among European shipbuilders — an effort that could have spillover effects in this country as the navy considers adding corvettes to the fleet. In an interview with CBC News, Oliver Burkhard, the CEO of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), made a point of...
Canada is moving quickly to secure a long-range strike system that has proved effective in the war in Ukraine, putting much of the country’s evolving defence-procurement strategy to the test. The deep-precision strike (DPS) system that Canada is looking to buy from another country initially, and later develop in-house, is somewhere between a long-range one-way attack drone and a cruise...
A veteran is taking the Canadian Armed Forces to court, challenging the constitutionality of exclusionary military polices that still prohibit applicants who are living with HIV, despite recruitment challenges and advancements in treatment. J.B., whose full name is protected in the filing, served as an active-duty member in the regular force for 13 years, between 2007 and 2020. He was...
Canada's "drone general" says the military knows it must "accelerate the adoption" of uncrewed systems and change how it interacts with industry as it looks to adopt fleets of low-cost drones and the technology to counter them. Lt.-Gen. Darcy Molstad, commander of the Canadian Joint Forces Command, told The Canadian Press on Tuesday the Ukraine war has demonstrated how drones...
A top military honour bestowed upon a senior military official reveals significant Canadian involvement in last year’s “Twelve-Day War” against Iran than what the federal government has previously disclosed. Col. David Turenne, a former CF-18 fighter pilot and current deputy commander of 1 Canadian Air Division in Winnipeg, was recognized for organizing an urgent evacuation of the largest military base...
A former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations has decried the Carney government’s decision to shut down international peacekeeping operations, which he says is vital to Canada’s global credibility. In a Wednesday interview with CTV Your Morning, Bob Rae described the peacekeeping missions as an “integral part of our national security strategy.” “The security challenge for Canada is that it’s...
Canada's air force will have to wait until the end of next year before it receives the first of four new air tankers critical to refuelling fighter jets in the Arctic. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) has for the first time outlined the state of the CC-330 Husky fleet purchased to replace its aging Airbus 310s. The wide-body jets...
The Canadian Armed Forces is holding an event today with Canadian drone manufacturers to test their platforms in real-world scenarios. The event, called the RED COBALT Uncrewed Systems Accelerator, is being held at a NATO test centre in the Ottawa Valley set up for testing cutting-edge technologies. The federal government is looking to quickly adopt more drones as the technology...
Conservatives flag Carney's ties to Telesat CEO, government says precautions taken. Federal Conservatives have demanded the Carney government open the books on the recent $2.3-billion military satellite deal with Telesat — a call that lays the groundwork for a bruising political battle this fall depending upon how far they want to take it. The Official Opposition wants to see public...
On July 17, the Department of National Defence announced that Canada would end or reduce its military participation in five long-standing international peace operations in Kosovo, Cyprus, South Sudan, the Sinai and the Democratic Republic of Congo, redirecting approximately 50 to 60 personnel to “higher-impact priorities.” Phased in through mid-2027, these changes do not constitute a dramatic rupture. They are...
Both Canada and the U.S. have been quietly shadowing two Chinese icebreaking research ships in Arctic waters off Alaska over the last couple of weeks. The Xue Long (Snow Dragon) and Xue Long (Snow Dragon) 2 sailed north through the U.S. exclusive economic zone in the Bering Sea in July, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The appearance of Chinese...
The federal government said Friday it is selling 10 of its used CC-130H Hercules aircraft to B.C.-based aerospace company Coulson Aviation, which will convert them into firefighting aircraft. They're part of a fleet of 12 retired by the Royal Canadian Air Force back in January. The remaining two Hercs will be put on public display at bases and museums. Secretary...
Military says it's keeping deployments 'relevant' as critics see abandoned heritage. The Department of National Defence calls it "rebalancing" but others believe we are witnessing the death of Canada's contribution to peacekeeping with the winding down of a series of long-standing overseas missions. The country has — for years — contributed only a handful of soldiers to United Nations-sanctioned missions...
The country’s troop commitment to United Nations peacekeeping will nearly cease next year after the federal government announced last month that it is ending three military missions. Canada announced on July 17 that it would be ending its contribution to UN peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan, and Cyprus by mid-2027.