THOMSON: Wanted, a Canadian navy that's ready for anything north of 60

In light of recent, questionable economic decisions by the Government of Canada, it’s fair to point out that while Canada has a lot of trees, none of them grow money. Our government needs to bear this in mind as we work towards meeting our NATO spending commitment of 2% of GDP.With our dollar depreciating and deficit burgeoning, it is imperative we get the most strategic impact as possible for the money we invest in defence. To that end, the navy would appear to be the most logical choice. It’s an opinion shared by Vice Admiral Mark Norman, former Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN ret'd.) And, with Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and its thinly veiled imperialistic ambitions — combined with the 2018 declaration by China proclaiming itself as a near-Arctic state (which is not a thing) — the spectre of conflict in the Arctic seems more probable now than ever before.The big question then, is how able is Canada to defend its strategic interest in the Arctic?.Canadian Navy says it can thwart Russia and China in Arctic.Norman acknowledges these concerns and the tendency for people to jump to the worst-case scenario. The reality however, is that the risk of conflict exists more on a scale of potential scenarios. Those scenarios range from minor, all the way up to a traditional shooting war. And while the risk of a ‘kinetic confrontation’ in the Arctic does exist as a possibility, it’s one he thinks is very unlikely.Like other defence experts who’ve opined on the topic, Norman emphasized that the harsh environment of the Arctic significantly limits what any navy can do, in terms of a shooting war in the region.“What we are more likely to see are increased efforts by China and Russia to exercise their freedom of movement in the north,” he suggests. “It’ll likely be done under the guise of a science or exploratory expeditions, but their real aim may be to map the seabed, or place monitoring devices on the ocean floor.”Norman considers it more of a Cold War-redux scenario, with the RCN shadowing and gathering intelligence on foreign vessels.Despite their modest armament, the new Arctic and Offshore Patrol vessels are well suited to such a sovereignty-enforcement role. “The Harry DeWolf (HDW) class were never designed as combatants,” he said. “They aren’t meant to go toe-to-toe with an adversary.”Canada needs to break away from the well-entrenched notion that our naval vessels must be capable of all things at all times, then...“What matters most," says Norman, "are the capabilities we can bring to bear, not the platform.” For example, the navy plans to use the patrol vessels to deploy a towed sonar array system to track, identify and target sub-surface threats. It’s an essential strategic capability, but the navy itself admits that such a system wouldn’t be of any particular use in Arctic waters due to the complication posed by ice. There are other ways to do that, that don't require a vessel with a Polar Class 5 rating.Norman went on to explain that Canada should be looking at maximizing its strategic power by “utilizing non-traditional vessels, for non-combat duties,” such as surveillance, and tasks like towing, or deploying ocean floor acoustic monitoring devices.This could be achieved by procuring vessels that are already in production for other industries, such as commercial fishing or offshore supply and modifying them for the RCN’s specific needs. Or alternatively, contracting vessels and crews to accomplish non-combat related tasks.Indeed, with an expanded mandate some of these jobs could be done by the Canadian Coast Guard. “It would require new legislation, and there’d be pushback," says Norman. "But that didn’t stop Canada from arming Canadian Border Service (CBSA) agents, when it was the right thing to do.”So, what's the way forward?Norman: “We’ve built up our national shipbuilding capacity, so let’s put it work and expand on it.”As Canada moves towards a 2% (or greater) GDP expenditure environment, a combination of building or buying more vessels that require smaller crews and are able to embark different modular capabilities to do a multitude of things, makes a lot of sense.Not only would we be able to rapidly meet our financial obligations to NATO, we’d end up with a highly flexible and adaptable fleet able to undertake a wide range of missions supporting not only our own strategic objectives, but those of our allies. Furthermore we’d be working within the significant constraint faced by the RCN for more than ten years — a lack of sailors. Norman says that in order to 'drill rivets and fill billets,' our government needs to make a concerted effort to reconnect Canadian society to the idea that we are a seafaring nation. “Our navy and our Coast Guard need to matter to everyone, not just those on the coast,” he said.I found this to be a profound observation because despite personally having served on RCN submarines and surface ships, I rarely think of Canada in that light. Yet it’s tue. Canada possesses the world’s largest coastline. And, at the end of the Second World War, the Royal Canadian Navy was the fourth largest navy in the world.That was a time when Canada's navy and seafaring prowess suited our geography. Granted it’s unlikely we will ever regain a fleet of that size. But, that’s not to say that we can’t, as Mark Norman suggests, find other ways to do the job.That’s what we should be working towards as we strive to meet our defence spending commitments. As General George Washington once said, “without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it everything honourable and glorious.”

THOMSON: Wanted, a Canadian navy that's ready for anything north of 60

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