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1 November 2002
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From: Steven Staples Director, Project on the Corporate-Security State Polaris Institute 312 Cooper Street Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0G7 CANADA t. 613 237-1717 x107 c. 613 290-2695 f. 613 237-3359 e. steven_staples@on.aibn.com www.polarisinstitute.org HANSARD from the Canadian Parliament today. A question to the government by the leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada. Mme Alexa McDonough (Halifax, NPD): Mister Speaker, this government is silent concerning the antimissile shield project of the United States. To convince Canada to their point of view, the United States is approaching directly a Canadian companies to be part of the program, for example, the Canadian Aviation Electronics. [unofficial tranlsation - Steve] My question is for the Minister of Defence. Does this government support or not this antimissile shield project of the United States? [English] With respect to CAE, I would like to remind the hon. member that it is a private company that does not act on behalf of the Canadian government. Ms. Alexa McDonough (Halifax, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the government is participating de facto in the American missile defence project. CAE has already received $72 million in federal funds in partnership with Boeing. This company is involved in the NMD and the Canadian government is funding it. The government says it has not made up its mind and it turns around and subsidizes a corporation that is running simulations for the project. Why does the government not simply admit it is supporting the missile defence program? What kind of policy hijacking is this? Mr. John O'Reilly (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, may I remind the hon. member again that CAE is a private company. It does not act on behalf of the Canadian government. No decision has been made on national missile defence system. There are three items here. One is our commitment to NATO, one is our commitment to NORAD and one is our commitment to interoperability with the Americans. I remind the member, CAE is a private company.
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1 November 2002
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OTTAWA -- Now that a Canadian firm has joined the global corporate team behind the ballistic missile defence shield, experts say there will be a push to persuade Ottawa to climb on board. Defence analysts and industry insiders say the United States has joined forces on developing the shield in recent months with major defence and aerospace companies in allied countries. The goal is to have other countries from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization join the U.S. project. Two days ago, Canada's CAE Inc. said that it will supply simulation software for the California-based program. Over the summer, the U.S. firms signed deals with BAE Systems PLC in Britain, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. of France and Germany and Finmeccanica SpA of Italy. Ballistic-missile defence is a massive U.S. undertaking to develop a system to shoot down missiles from rogue states. While the idea is popular in the military field, it has faced opposition around the world from people who say it is too expensive, will not work and will lead to an arms race. The Canadian government has seemed cool to the program but has not ruled out participation. Some of the shield installations could be in Canada. Experts said the goal of the U.S. administration and the prime contractor, Boeing Co., is to counter opposition by bringing companies on board that would persuade their governments to sign on. "The thrust has to come from somewhere. And it's easier from an industry-to-industry perspective," an industry source said yesterday. "I would imagine that at some point, the NATO countries would come forward and say, 'We have to do this collectively.' " Steven Staples, a defence specialist at the Ottawa-based Polaris Institute, said pressure will grow in Canada from the corporate community to participate in the defence system to allow firms to reap financial benefits. "[The Americans] find it very useful to get industry to discuss it with their governments, and get the governments to sign on." David Martin of the U.S. Missile Defence Agency told DefenseNews this year that allied countries will have a greater say if they participate early in the development of ballistic-missile defence. "The greater the level of participation, the more influence [the allies] have on this." In a statement released two days ago, Jim Evatt of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems said the agreement with CAE is "another important step in global co-operation that is critical for the future security of our nations, military forces and allies." The president and chief executive officer of CAE is Derek Burney, a former Canadian ambassador to Washington and former chief of staff to former prime minister Brian Mulroney. Mr. Staples said that Mr. Burney, with his vast connections, can be expected to become a prominent proponent of the project. Mr. Staples said Mr. Burney would be a spokesman "for missile defence here in Canada." But a CAE official said the company's goal is purely business. "It's up to governments around the world to decide how they want to play with ballistic-missile defence," Chris Stellwag said. "Really, this is the early part of the life cycle of the program, so there's still a lot of decisions, a lot of politics to play, related to this kind of technology." Mr. Stellwag said that CAE hopes its software would be used to develop the missile-defence shield, and later to train those using the system.
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