EvanL
07-14-2004, 10:59 PM
Who's Guarding our Coasts? Here's a hint: It isn't the Navy
But we could develop an effective Canadian Coast Guard
Excerpts* 17th Report, Senate Committee on National Security and Defence
The Honourable Colin Kenny, Chair, October 2003. [Edited for brevity.]
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"If a colleague from the US Navy said to me: 'Our Coast Guard watches over the first 200 miles and then the Navy takes over. How does it work in Canada?',
I would have to say: 'I can tell you about the outside 200 miles, but you don't want to hear about the inside 200 miles.'"
– Rear Admiral (Ret'd) Bruce Johnston, former Commander,
Maritime Forces (Pacific) testifying before the Committee.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Focusing on Canadian (and North American) Maritime Security
All of North America must be secure if people anywhere in North America are to feel truly safe. That means that Canada has a serious role to play. Canadians do not have to join the US on every security initiative that the US decides to embark upon. But helping secure the perimeter of North America makes good sense – for our security and our economy.
This Report focuses on Canada’s ability to defend its territorial waters and help police the continental coastline. Its main thrust is to address maritime security issues that have not been specifically addressed before. The focus will be on Canada’s coastal (or littoral) waters. We need to determine how Canada can best plug the gaps in the surveillance, policing and defence of these waters.
Who defends Canada's three coastlines? It certainly isn’t the Canadian Navy
The Navy appears to be primarily a ‘blue water’ fleet, mandated to fight Canada’s battles away from Canada’s shores. Requiring the Canadian Navy to fulfill its primary mandate of defending Canada’s coastlines, would, of course, be one alternative for bolstering Canada's maritime security.
But several witnesses have argued that the Navy’s ships are generally too big, too slow and too expensive to efficiently deal with threats in our littoral waters. In fact, officials have recently announced [2003] that the Navy is essentially taking an operational 'pause' – a year off in an attempt to regenerate the institution.
[Ed: The Canadian Navy does own a fleet of what are known as maritime coastal defence vessels (MCDVs), but their primary role is training naval reserves. See: A Modest Proposal for using these vessels in an 'Interim Maritime Security Force'.]
What does the RCMP contribute to Maritime Security?
In Nova Scotia, Chief Superintendent Ian Atkins, of the Criminal Operations Branch, Province of Nova Scotia, Royal Canadian Mounted Police addressed the Committee. He said that the RCMP has exactly 13 officers dedicated specifically to the coast of Nova Scotia, backed up as required by 32 other officers who act as a 'emergency response' – trained for armed boarding of ships.
Chief Superintendent Atkins described the RCMP’s watch over the coasts, which it is mandated to police, as essentially volunteer-based, with RCMP officers sent out to encourage the public to recognize and report unusual behaviour.
Canadian Navy witnesses tell the Senate Committee that the Navy's role in the defence of our coasts is largely 'supportive'. The RCMP witness tells us that he has 13 officers to police 7,400 kilometres of Nova Scotia coastline. Others report that there are no dedicated resources to board a vessel in the Great Lakes or the St. Lawrence Seaway. From these expert testimonies, the Committee can draw only one overwhelming conclusion: Canada’s coasts are virtually undefended.
Does the Canadian Coast Guard currently defend our coasts?
Most Canadians probably assume that their Coast Guard protects our coasts in the same manner as the US Coast Guard. Not so. Neither our Coast Guard vessels nor the personnel on board are armed. For the CCG, a security role would be an extra claim on its already meagre resources – an 'add-on' to a list of clearly-defined, essential roles: SAR ( search and rescue ), charting navigable waters, checking vessel safety, ice-breaking, and, especially, checking for violations of fisheries and environmental regulations.
Until recently, the Canadian Coast Guard came wholly under the jurisdiction of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). [In December 2003, some tasks of the CCG were transferred to Transport Canada.] Coast Guard vessels do, upon request, conduct security surveillance, and will carry officers from Customs, Immigration, the RCMP, Fisheries and Transport Canada on possible interdiction missions, but this is a tertiary responsibility.
Difficulty Fulfilling Current Missions
When the Senate Committee members asked whether the Canadian Coast Guard has the resources to play a more constabulary role on Canada’s coasts, the reply was a uniform 'no'. There has been a severe depletion of vessels and personnel in recent years. More than half of CCG vessels are past their half-life, and it would cost an estimated $350 million just to bring them up to strength to perform the roles that they are mandated to play now. The need for additional resources and personnel is clear. Canada could be using the resources it has to do a better job of securing Canada’s coastlines.
Making better use of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG)
This was a view supported by Dr. James A. Boutilier, Special Advisor (Policy), Maritime Forces, Pacific Headquarters, Department of National Defence.
Dr. Boutilier, an expert on what other countries around the world are doing , believes that there is a real possibility for expanding the CCG’s capacity. He said that giving the Canadian Coast Guard a more constabulary role would be the best route to go. The Australians, for example, are currently pumping $500 million into a 'stand-alone' Coast Guard, distinct from the Australian Navy. [See: In Detail.]
Coast Guard personnel eager to take on Constabulary Role in Maritime Security
With respect to mandating the Canadian Coast Guard to take on constabulary responsibilities to fill the clear gap in Canada’s coastal defence, the Committee was particularly impressed with the testimony of John F. Thomas, now a partner in a company known as BMB Consulting Services, but formerly commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard.
Before testifying to the Committee, he had spoken to a number of Coast Guard personnel. They told him they would be eager to operate as armed peace officers. They would be resistant to the idea only if "it were a question of trying to do it with the existing funding."
As Mr. Thomas pointed out, carrying a side arm is a high risk venture, but so is search and rescue ( SAR ) , a task conducted routinely by the Coast Guard. He called on the Government to set up the Coast Guard as an independent agency.
The True Potential of the Canadian Coast Guard
During the summer of 2003, the Chair and officials of the Committee met informally with a number of Coast Guard union officials representing officers and other ranks. We discovered that the overwhelming reaction was just what John Thomas had described: a willingness – even an eagerness – to operate as peace officers along Canada’s coasts and on the Great Lakes. They asked only that they be given adequate personnel and resources to perform this new constabulary role, along with their multitude of other duties. They also asked that peace officers be fully trained and compensated in accordance with their new responsibilities.
"We ask you to give serious consideration to re-building the Canadian Coast Guard to its once proud level, and that it be given a major position in ensuring maritime security in Canada," said Michael Wing, National President, Union of Canadian Transportation Employees.
The union representatives generally agreed that it would be a formidable endeavour to transform the Canadian Coast Guard from an unarmed civilian agency to a constabulary force. But they are confident that, with politcal will, it can be done.
The Canadian Coast Guard should take on a Constabulary Role
To sum up, the Committee believes that the CCG should take on a constabulary role. Since the Coast Guard will need new vessels and aircraft in the very near future, the CCG could be equipped with armed cutters capable of carrying all the required personnel, and able to pursue other craft at a speed of about 20 knots, in order to carry out this new mandate.
No institution is more familiar with Canada’s coastal waters. The Canadian Coast Guard could become an even more valuable Canadian resource. The Committee heard from many witnesses who agreed with the Committee’s consensus that the CCG is an under-utilized resource.
Commodore (Ret’d) Hans Hendel, Consultant, Canadian Forces Staff College: "An armed Coast Guard is a much more cost-efficient means of interdicting vessels of interest close to our shores than the more costly destroyer or frigate. [But] there must be a new policy, a policy that in part provides our Coast Guard with a new mandate, a mandate worthy of the name 'Coast Guard'. "
James C. Kelly, Fellow, Centre for Foreign Policy Studies, Dalhousie University: "Many Coast Guards around the world possess a policing role. As a matter of fact, the majority of Coast Guards throughout the world have a policing role. They are most often defined in this respect and thus have the necessary equipment and trained personnel to do that kind of work. What would it take to equip our own Canadian Coast Guard with a law enforcement role? It could spell some economic advantages in the deployment of smaller, more cost-effective platforms, such as fast rescue craft and patrol boats with smaller crews. It could also lessen the heavy workload of our federal police force, and our Navy."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommendations – The Federal Government should:
• Transform the Canadian Coast Guard into an independently funded agency with its own carefully crafted mandate.
• Make the Canadian Coast Guard responsible directly to Parliament. The CCG will carry out its current duties – search-and-rescue (SAR), fisheries enforcement, environmental protection, navigational aids, marine safety, and the like – plus new duties under maritime security.
• Coordinate all appropriate resources – Canadian Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Army, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, police forces and agencies responsible for intelligence and satellite surveillance – to improve the maritime security of Canadian coastlines.
But we could develop an effective Canadian Coast Guard
Excerpts* 17th Report, Senate Committee on National Security and Defence
The Honourable Colin Kenny, Chair, October 2003. [Edited for brevity.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If a colleague from the US Navy said to me: 'Our Coast Guard watches over the first 200 miles and then the Navy takes over. How does it work in Canada?',
I would have to say: 'I can tell you about the outside 200 miles, but you don't want to hear about the inside 200 miles.'"
– Rear Admiral (Ret'd) Bruce Johnston, former Commander,
Maritime Forces (Pacific) testifying before the Committee.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Focusing on Canadian (and North American) Maritime Security
All of North America must be secure if people anywhere in North America are to feel truly safe. That means that Canada has a serious role to play. Canadians do not have to join the US on every security initiative that the US decides to embark upon. But helping secure the perimeter of North America makes good sense – for our security and our economy.
This Report focuses on Canada’s ability to defend its territorial waters and help police the continental coastline. Its main thrust is to address maritime security issues that have not been specifically addressed before. The focus will be on Canada’s coastal (or littoral) waters. We need to determine how Canada can best plug the gaps in the surveillance, policing and defence of these waters.
Who defends Canada's three coastlines? It certainly isn’t the Canadian Navy
The Navy appears to be primarily a ‘blue water’ fleet, mandated to fight Canada’s battles away from Canada’s shores. Requiring the Canadian Navy to fulfill its primary mandate of defending Canada’s coastlines, would, of course, be one alternative for bolstering Canada's maritime security.
But several witnesses have argued that the Navy’s ships are generally too big, too slow and too expensive to efficiently deal with threats in our littoral waters. In fact, officials have recently announced [2003] that the Navy is essentially taking an operational 'pause' – a year off in an attempt to regenerate the institution.
[Ed: The Canadian Navy does own a fleet of what are known as maritime coastal defence vessels (MCDVs), but their primary role is training naval reserves. See: A Modest Proposal for using these vessels in an 'Interim Maritime Security Force'.]
What does the RCMP contribute to Maritime Security?
In Nova Scotia, Chief Superintendent Ian Atkins, of the Criminal Operations Branch, Province of Nova Scotia, Royal Canadian Mounted Police addressed the Committee. He said that the RCMP has exactly 13 officers dedicated specifically to the coast of Nova Scotia, backed up as required by 32 other officers who act as a 'emergency response' – trained for armed boarding of ships.
Chief Superintendent Atkins described the RCMP’s watch over the coasts, which it is mandated to police, as essentially volunteer-based, with RCMP officers sent out to encourage the public to recognize and report unusual behaviour.
Canadian Navy witnesses tell the Senate Committee that the Navy's role in the defence of our coasts is largely 'supportive'. The RCMP witness tells us that he has 13 officers to police 7,400 kilometres of Nova Scotia coastline. Others report that there are no dedicated resources to board a vessel in the Great Lakes or the St. Lawrence Seaway. From these expert testimonies, the Committee can draw only one overwhelming conclusion: Canada’s coasts are virtually undefended.
Does the Canadian Coast Guard currently defend our coasts?
Most Canadians probably assume that their Coast Guard protects our coasts in the same manner as the US Coast Guard. Not so. Neither our Coast Guard vessels nor the personnel on board are armed. For the CCG, a security role would be an extra claim on its already meagre resources – an 'add-on' to a list of clearly-defined, essential roles: SAR ( search and rescue ), charting navigable waters, checking vessel safety, ice-breaking, and, especially, checking for violations of fisheries and environmental regulations.
Until recently, the Canadian Coast Guard came wholly under the jurisdiction of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). [In December 2003, some tasks of the CCG were transferred to Transport Canada.] Coast Guard vessels do, upon request, conduct security surveillance, and will carry officers from Customs, Immigration, the RCMP, Fisheries and Transport Canada on possible interdiction missions, but this is a tertiary responsibility.
Difficulty Fulfilling Current Missions
When the Senate Committee members asked whether the Canadian Coast Guard has the resources to play a more constabulary role on Canada’s coasts, the reply was a uniform 'no'. There has been a severe depletion of vessels and personnel in recent years. More than half of CCG vessels are past their half-life, and it would cost an estimated $350 million just to bring them up to strength to perform the roles that they are mandated to play now. The need for additional resources and personnel is clear. Canada could be using the resources it has to do a better job of securing Canada’s coastlines.
Making better use of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG)
This was a view supported by Dr. James A. Boutilier, Special Advisor (Policy), Maritime Forces, Pacific Headquarters, Department of National Defence.
Dr. Boutilier, an expert on what other countries around the world are doing , believes that there is a real possibility for expanding the CCG’s capacity. He said that giving the Canadian Coast Guard a more constabulary role would be the best route to go. The Australians, for example, are currently pumping $500 million into a 'stand-alone' Coast Guard, distinct from the Australian Navy. [See: In Detail.]
Coast Guard personnel eager to take on Constabulary Role in Maritime Security
With respect to mandating the Canadian Coast Guard to take on constabulary responsibilities to fill the clear gap in Canada’s coastal defence, the Committee was particularly impressed with the testimony of John F. Thomas, now a partner in a company known as BMB Consulting Services, but formerly commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard.
Before testifying to the Committee, he had spoken to a number of Coast Guard personnel. They told him they would be eager to operate as armed peace officers. They would be resistant to the idea only if "it were a question of trying to do it with the existing funding."
As Mr. Thomas pointed out, carrying a side arm is a high risk venture, but so is search and rescue ( SAR ) , a task conducted routinely by the Coast Guard. He called on the Government to set up the Coast Guard as an independent agency.
The True Potential of the Canadian Coast Guard
During the summer of 2003, the Chair and officials of the Committee met informally with a number of Coast Guard union officials representing officers and other ranks. We discovered that the overwhelming reaction was just what John Thomas had described: a willingness – even an eagerness – to operate as peace officers along Canada’s coasts and on the Great Lakes. They asked only that they be given adequate personnel and resources to perform this new constabulary role, along with their multitude of other duties. They also asked that peace officers be fully trained and compensated in accordance with their new responsibilities.
"We ask you to give serious consideration to re-building the Canadian Coast Guard to its once proud level, and that it be given a major position in ensuring maritime security in Canada," said Michael Wing, National President, Union of Canadian Transportation Employees.
The union representatives generally agreed that it would be a formidable endeavour to transform the Canadian Coast Guard from an unarmed civilian agency to a constabulary force. But they are confident that, with politcal will, it can be done.
The Canadian Coast Guard should take on a Constabulary Role
To sum up, the Committee believes that the CCG should take on a constabulary role. Since the Coast Guard will need new vessels and aircraft in the very near future, the CCG could be equipped with armed cutters capable of carrying all the required personnel, and able to pursue other craft at a speed of about 20 knots, in order to carry out this new mandate.
No institution is more familiar with Canada’s coastal waters. The Canadian Coast Guard could become an even more valuable Canadian resource. The Committee heard from many witnesses who agreed with the Committee’s consensus that the CCG is an under-utilized resource.
Commodore (Ret’d) Hans Hendel, Consultant, Canadian Forces Staff College: "An armed Coast Guard is a much more cost-efficient means of interdicting vessels of interest close to our shores than the more costly destroyer or frigate. [But] there must be a new policy, a policy that in part provides our Coast Guard with a new mandate, a mandate worthy of the name 'Coast Guard'. "
James C. Kelly, Fellow, Centre for Foreign Policy Studies, Dalhousie University: "Many Coast Guards around the world possess a policing role. As a matter of fact, the majority of Coast Guards throughout the world have a policing role. They are most often defined in this respect and thus have the necessary equipment and trained personnel to do that kind of work. What would it take to equip our own Canadian Coast Guard with a law enforcement role? It could spell some economic advantages in the deployment of smaller, more cost-effective platforms, such as fast rescue craft and patrol boats with smaller crews. It could also lessen the heavy workload of our federal police force, and our Navy."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommendations – The Federal Government should:
• Transform the Canadian Coast Guard into an independently funded agency with its own carefully crafted mandate.
• Make the Canadian Coast Guard responsible directly to Parliament. The CCG will carry out its current duties – search-and-rescue (SAR), fisheries enforcement, environmental protection, navigational aids, marine safety, and the like – plus new duties under maritime security.
• Coordinate all appropriate resources – Canadian Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Army, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, police forces and agencies responsible for intelligence and satellite surveillance – to improve the maritime security of Canadian coastlines.