Close collaboration ‘absolutely necessary’

The head of the Canadian Armed Forces says the business sector has an important role to play as the federal government rolls out its new defence industrial strategy.

At a time when climate change and the rapid development of technology are accelerating Canada’s defence issues, “We need to find a new mindset and we need to find new ways of working,” Gen. Jennie Carignan told a crowd of business leaders and executives in Winnipeg on Wednesday afternoon.

The Canadian government plans to invest $500 billion in defence over the next 10 years, creating an estimated 125,000 jobs in the process.

Carignan — who in 2024 became the first female Chief of the Defence Staff, the highest-ranking military position in the Forces — spoke about the implications for local businesses during a luncheon organized by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce at the Fairmont Winnipeg hotel.

There are two factors accelerating the country’s defence issues, Carignan said: climate change is affecting the Arctic and accelerating access to the region, and technology is developing rapidly.

“(We have those) two accelerators on top of a very volatile and uncertain global environment,” Carignan said during her keynote presentation.

Businesses and the Forces need to work together to solve government problems with innovative solutions and new capabilities that can be developed, tested and implemented quickly, she added.

During a fireside chat with chamber board chairperson Amanda Buhse, Carignan said communities where Forces bases are located should get ready for demands on the construction trades as Ottawa upgrades their infrastructure. (CFB Winnipeg is home to the 17 Wing branch of the Royal Canadian Air Force; CFB Shilo is an Army operations and training hub near Brandon.)

The defence industrial strategy includes a focus on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and quantum technology, Carignan noted, so the Forces will be expanding its capacity to process data.

“Internally, we’re going to need more personnel,” she said. “We’re going to need more public service employees, as well.”

Small- and medium-sized Canadian businesses that are looking to engage in a meaningful way can get involved with collaborative hubs the Forces is creating across the country where industry, academia and the military work together to solve defence problems, Carignan said, adding innovation is key.

“Maintaining that close collaboration will be great and absolutely necessary.”

The chat with Buhse ended with Carignan saying close collaboration continues between the Canadian Armed Forces and United States Armed Forces, especially as the Canadian government looks at modernizing the country’s air defences.

“We have to make sure that we build redundancy in this overall continental defence,” Carignan said. “How can we reinforce each other but retain an amount of control over what we do here over our own territory?

“I’m very blessed with the partners I have right now, where we can wrestle with this because it is a significant, complex endeavour,” she said. “Doing this together is much more effective than trying to do each our (own) thing.”

Following the event, Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said local businesses of all kinds have a role to play in Canada’s defence industry — not just the big companies like StandardAero and Magellan Aerospace.

“What we have today is … really a call to action, I would say, for not just the primary players but (all) businesses to take a look at their operations and (ask), how can I play a role in defence procurement?” he said. “How do I get into that supply chain? How can I support this changing defence posture?”

The federal government is planning to spend a half-trillion dollars by 2035, Remillard said.

“I want more than our fair share (for Winnipeg),” he said. “Let’s seize every dollar (and) every opportunity for our economy.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca