'The past practice of the CF (Canadian Forces) assisting in domestic disasters ... should be left aside,' says Richard Fadden
OTTAWA — With the increasing number of domestic natural disasters expected to rise, a former Canadian security adviser said prime ministers need access to more relief options than simply deploying the military.
Testifying before the House committee on national defence, former national security adviser Richard Fadden said the days of relying on the military as the country’s sole response to large-scale disasters are over.
Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.
“The past practice of the CF (Canadian Forces) assisting in domestic disasters … should be left aside,” he told committee members.
“These practices may or may not have been appropriate for the time, but the environment today is different.”
-
As Canada's military responds to more disasters like Hurricane Fiona, recruitment struggles to keep up
-
John Ivison: If Canada can't properly arm the Ukrainians, we can train more of them to fight
With over 700 troops currently assisting with hurricane cleanup in Atlantic Canada, questions about whether the military is still the best option for such disasters have been swirling around Parliament Hill.
“This is a really large country, and moving emergency supplies across the country is something the Canadian Forces can do,” Fadden said.
“But even if they can do it in the context of disasters, using attack helicopters to move bedding supplies across the country isn’t the best possible use of that specialized resource.”
Prior to his retirement in 2016, Fadden served as national security adviser for prime ministers Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau.
He was also director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) from 2009 to 2013, and deputy defence minister from 2013 to 2015.
Fadden said officials should consider both the domestic and international priorities of our military in determining if a military response is warranted in times of domestic crisis — or even practical.
Testifying Sept. 27 in front of the same committee, Maj-Gen. Paul Prévost said the military was deployed to seven natural disasters just in the past 12 months — including wildfires across western Canada and Ontario, Iqaluit’s fuel-tainted drinking water emergency, and floods in Yukon, B.C. and Newfoundland.
Prevost told the committee that Canada should consider CAF a rescue squad of “last resort.”
Speaking before the same committee, Fadden said the definition of “last” is being used rather loosely.
“It’s becoming too easy for prime ministers, not in particular this one, but prime ministers generally to simply say, ‘I’m going to send in the army,'” he said.
“We do this without talking to the provinces, municipalities and civil society about what they could and should do.”
Speaking to CBC News over the weekend, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre said forming a new CAF branch specifically to respond to disaster relief was beyond his organization’s capabilities.
Fadden agreed.
The Canadian Forces, right now, are under all sorts of pressures, they're not doing as well as they can
Richard Fadden
“The Canadian Forces, right now, are under all sorts of pressures, they’re not doing as well as they can,” Fadden said.
“Adding another function, another organization to the portfolio, I think, would be a real mistake.”
With the number of emergencies and disasters expected to increase, Fadden said rethinking how Canada deploys its military should be a given.
“The last four or five years have demonstrated this in spades,” he said.
Fadden said it’s important to consider what he described as “unity of function” when determining Canadian military policy.
“Asking the Canadian Forces, for example, to run a railway would be a mistake,” he said.
“Asking the Canadian Forces to become overly involved in disaster assistance, in my view, is also a mistake.”
Late last month, Defence officials described Canadian military recruitment shortfalls as a “crisis,” despite plans by the Liberal government to bolster personnel numbers.
Earlier this year, numbers from the Department of National Defence indicated Canada was short around 12,000 members of our full operational strength of 100,000 troops.
By the end of 2020, CAF was short only around 7,000 troops.
That report came shortly after warnings from Canada’s top sailor, Vice-Admiral Craig Baines, who told the Canadian Press in December that the Navy needed around 1,000 new personnel — a challenge that will grow as vessels ordered as part of Canada’s multi-billion-dollar program to replace aging naval and coast guard fleets begin delivery.
Also complicating matters are the 900 Canadian soldiers forced out of service for declining to comply with CAF’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.
As for next steps, Fadden said future emergency response needs to be weighed against logistical, administrative and manpower challenges.
Giving government officials more tools than simply deploying the army should be key, he said.
“If a prime minister only has one tool in the context of dealing with disasters, it’s a problem.”
• Email: bpassifiume@postmedia.com | Twitter: