Remarks by Minister of National Defence Bill Blair at the 2024 Halifax International Security Forum
National Defence
Speech
November 22, 2024
Check against delivery
First of all, good afternoon friends. May I also extend a warm welcome to all of you who have travelled here to Halifax.
Today, we are gathered on the traditional territory of the Mi'kmaq people, who have lived upon this land for generations.
It's truly an honour and quite frankly a privilege to be in this room, to have the opportunity to welcome you to the 16th Halifax International Security Forum.
I want to begin by acknowledging Peter Van Praagh and Janice Stein, and the entire team here at HFX for their outstanding work in organizing this Forum.
I think you've made a huge difference for many of us in that you've given us an opportunity to come together to learn from each other, to engage in an important dialogue. You've challenged our perspectives and our thinking but you give us an opportunity to learn.
I think it's a unique chance we are given for all democracies to be able to talk freely and openly with candour and with honesty, and have frank conversations about the challenges that we all face and hopefully lead to meaningful collaboration among all of us.
Peter, every year you have provided us with the opportunity to come together and to speak on the defence and security environment. You make and continue to make a difference and our thanks and sincere gratitude to your entire team for making that possible.
Ladies and gentlemen, when I came to Halifax last year as Peter indicated, I had been in my current role for about three months and I know that there were a number of people who on my team who wanted me to come to Halifax and paint a rather rosy picture of Canada's work in defence.
They wanted me to come here and tell you that we were doing awesome. Everything was great. But I knew that wasn't true.
And so I felt very strongly that although I had some good things to say about things that we were doing, I didn't want to give that speech to you all because it would not have been candid. It would not have been frank. It would not have been honest.
This is the forum for open and honest conversations between friends. So when I came here last year, I spoke about what we needed to do going forward and I tried to be honest with all of you.
Canada needed to do more. We needed to go faster. We needed to spend more money. But it wasn't simply to me a spending metric provided by our friends and Allies and a spending metric that we had committed to.
It was because we needed to invest in our own national defence.
We needed to invest in our own Armed Forces. We needed to support the remarkable men and women who choose to serve their country in uniform and defend their country.
We also had to live up to our obligations. Our obligations to our international partners, our friends and our Allies. We'd made commitments and I think through decades of under-investment we were not fulfilling that promise and we needed to do more.
The discussions that we had here, I think, really was an opportunity for us to learn how to go forward together.
The increasing threats of our adversaries — Peter already articulated them very well and, of course, with the compelling video that he shared — but certainly the activities of our adversaries like China and Russia, Iran and North Korea are global and they are, in fact, interrelated.
They are intended to challenge the international order that has kept us all safe and prosperous, sowing instability among our own people and within our own nations.
And it demands an appropriate united and strong response from us.
As you all know, Russia's brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine has directly challenged the rules-based international order that has kept us safe for over 80 years.
And let us acknowledge the people of Ukraine who have been bravely facing that challenge, their men and women who are on the very front lines, who have sacrificed not just with their energy but with their blood, and they are fighting for freedom and democracy.
And I also want to take the opportunity to acknowledge the Speaker and the entire Ukrainian delegation. Thank you for taking the time to be here.
We are inspired by your example, your strength and your resolve.
You know, I've often heard about some of the challenges and concerns that were expressed about the state of NATO in the past, but I think the conflict in Ukraine and the inspiration provided by their leadership demonstrates perhaps the most undeniable value of collective defence.
I believe that the NATO of today — and I want to acknowledge the NATO leadership and the leadership of many of its participants — that we are stronger.
We are more united. We are deeper united in our resolve. We're learning how to work together and we are all collectively answering the call to do more and to do it together.
I believe that Vladimir Putin's intent in 2022 was to weaken NATO and I believe that he has failed completely in that effort.
He's deepened our resolve to defend Ukraine and to work together. I want to acknowledge in particular Secretary Lloyd Austin, the American Secretary of Defense, for his remarkable work in bringing Allies and partners together to the UDCG and also the leadership of NATO in helping us come together.
Russia's threats to our collective security are extending well beyond their attack on Ukraine. They remain highly capable of projecting air, naval and missile forces across Europe as well as to the Arctic to threaten North America.
And as we know, Russia is asserting its strategic dominance around the world through cyber intrusions, through global disinformation campaigns, and funding armed group and terrorist organizations.
And these actions not only threaten Europe and North America but they are a challenge to NATO and they are a challenge to all of our Allies and our interests around the world.
I think it's important to also acknowledge that China is also increasing flexing its power and using its economic might to advance its goals of reshaping the international order.
The development of new and disruptive technologies is rapidly redefining conflict and what it takes to be safe and secure.
It's one of the reasons in my country we've undertaken the Indo-Pacific Strategy where we've made a promise to become a more reliable, dependable partner in that region.
We have now undertaken a number of transits through the Taiwan Strait to uphold the important principle of freedom of navigation through international waterways.
We do that with our Allies.
We do that with our friends.
I think we demonstrate to the world that we're united together to stand up to those rules.
I think all of us working together is an important part of our efforts to counter China's growing influence to the region and globally.
We're also challenged by climate change, which is having a transformational effect on our threat landscape and in our own Arctic.
In Canada we're finding our Arctic is warming at four times the global average and it's becoming increasingly accessible.
It's opening up economic opportunities but it's also attracting the activities of non-Arctic states alike to share in the region's vast resource potential and many of our adversaries are now paying attention and they're seeking to exploit its strategic position.
Our Arctic is a key part of our national identity and we need to ensure its security and sovereignty.
In our most recent Defence Policy Update which we released in April, we placed a huge emphasis for us on the Arctic because a strong presence there is required.
You know, I often go to the Arctic and what I heard from them there is Arctic sovereignty and Arctic security isn't occasionally a plane flying overhead or a ship sailing by when the water's out.
And I said, okay, what do we have to do?
It was rather startling.
They said infrastructure. We need to build highways. We need to build fibre-optic communications. We need power plants, water treatment plants. We need airports and runways. We need deep-water ports. We need to invest in our community and that's what our country has decided to do.
Because if we want to maintain security, our collective security in the Arctic, it means we need to be persistently and reliably present there which means we're going to have to make huge new investments.
And if we're going to operate in the Arctic in a defence capacity, we've got to build the infrastructure necessary there to support and build a stronger relationship with the Indigenous people and northern communities that live in that region so that we can be stronger together.
I think our greatest strength is on display right here in this room. Our collective defence, our shared vision of a free and secure world adhering to shared and respected values.
It's why we gather here at the Halifax International Security Forum.
And I understand we may not all agree on everything, but as democracies we share common values and a united desire for safety and security and our prosperity. And we should make no mistake about this.
Our national, each of our individual national prosperities and global prosperity for the entire free world depends on our shared security.
It's that collective commitment to defence that has led to a stronger NATO and working in partnership on common goals and challenges.
For example, in the face of China's and Russia's push into the Arctic, we have recently formed the Northern Defence Dialogue with like-minded Arctic nations.
We know that as that area becomes more accessible to our potential adversaries, as the Arctic melts and as it could easily potentially become the main point of transit between Europe and Asian economies of trade, we know that we need to work together to a peaceful and prosperous future for the region, one where international rules are respected and adhered to.
And if I may also speak just briefly about our relationship with our closest Ally, our friend, our neighbour the United States.
This is something that Canadians deeply value and we have always depended upon that relationship.
It's an unparalleled alliance especially illustrated through NORAD which is our binational military command that keeps a vigilant eye on North American airspace and our vast marine approaches.
NORAD defends our countries against threats in the air domain and it's why we are working in partnership with the United States to invest quite significantly in NORAD modernization.
We're making a generational investment in order to ensure that we maintain the safety of our continent and we are stronger because we do it together.
But we're also strengthening our relationship with other partners and Allies.
For example, we've been very much engaged in conversations with Australia with whom we share a close bond found not only in our history but in our language.
Perhaps there are differences between us because we don't feel exactly the same way about cricket, but we face common threats and adversaries and we know that those common threats and adversaries are quickly developing new offensive technologies.
The wars we've seen that have taken place in Ukraine and in the Middle East demonstrate the need to work together and to adapt to defend against these significant security challenges.
And today, because I am a politician, I am going to make a bit of an announcement.
I'm very pleased to announce that Canada and Australia have today signed an agreement to work together on researching emerging missile threats with a focus on countering hypersonic weapon systems.
Under this new agreement — which is very closely tied to all of our efforts collectively together on NORAD modernization — but under this agreement Defence Research and Development Canada is going to work with Australian Defence Science and Technology Group to develop a range of solutions.
It's going to require investments from both countries of $237 million over the next five years. Australia will match that contribution and again together we will get to the solutions that we are going to require to defend ourselves in the new threat environment.
Finally, I'd like to close, if I may, by acknowledging the members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
I am very honoured to be here today with our new Chief of Defence, an extraordinarily capable and qualified commander who has brought a new vision and energy to our Canadian Armed Forces.
The work that our sailors and our soldiers and our aviators and Special Forces and Canadian Rangers do every day is a huge part of what keeps our nation safe.
And nothing that we do would be possible without them and without the support of their families and those who love them.
That's why we are absolutely committed to continuing to attract the best talent from right across Canada.
And equally important we're making measurable progress so that our military members know that they can work in an environment which is safe, respectful and supportive.
We have that obligation to them and we're going to live up to that obligation.
I think that's something I would actually like to have conversations with our friends in the room because I think each of us is facing a huge challenge in reconstituting and making sure that we get the people, the right people so that we have the right skill sets and the right values to serve in our armed forces.
We are absolutely committed to investing in those people and we are taking every opportunity to learn from others on how to do this right.
I would also want to acknowledge Canada is a diverse country and we need great Canadians to step up and serve in our Armed Forces. And for us that includes great women, great Indigenous candidates, great diverse peoples, great Canadians to serve in the Armed Forces.
Last year, as I've already acknowledged, one of my purposes in coming here was to tell you not only that we recognized that we needed to do more, but that we would do more.
And I think that I've got some good news to share because we are doing more, and we are seized with a sense of urgency.
I want to explore with all of you every opportunity to accelerate our work and to move swiftly forward on the path that we've put forward through our collective efforts with our Allies and our industry partners.
We know we can do better and we know we must do better.
The interconnected nature of the world means that a threat to any of us is a threat to all of us, and particularly for those who share a commitment to freedom and democracy.
So let us continue to learn from each other. Let's continue in these conversations. Let us be frank and candid and honest with each other.
Sometimes it's very uncomfortable when you open yourself up to that candour. Sometimes it feels very difficult because of the criticism that you face, but I believe that criticism is wind in the sails. It gets behind us and through, I think, your sincere concerns about the needs for all of us to do more, for all of us to do better.
Collectively we will do more. And we will do better.
So, delegates of the Halifax International Security Forum, it's my true honour and pleasure to welcome you all here today.
The floor is now all yours. Let's get to work.
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