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Strategies & Market Trends : Fascist Oligarchs Attack Cute Cuddly Canadians -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eashoa' M'sheekha who wrote (556)	9/5/2002 4:48:41 AM
From: Eashoa' M'sheekha	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1293

Extend NORAD concept, Senate urges By DARREN YOURK Globe and Mail Update Tuesday, September 3 – Online Edition, Posted at 12:43 PM EST A new report says Canada and the U.S. should take the joint approach they have on defending North America's skies and apply it to protecting the continent's land and water. The Senate Committee on National Security and Defence tabled its interim report Tuesday, titled Defence of North America: A Canadian Responsibility, calling on the federal government to step up its' defence efforts or risk having the United States assume full responsibility for the defence of the continent. "Canada's participation in the North American Aerospace Command (NORAD) allows Canadians to participate fully in the defence of continental air space without threat to Canadian sovereignty," the committee said in a news release. "Unfortunately, the two countries have nothing similar to NORAD to defend North America's coastlines. ... The committee feels that Canada can act in concert with the United States in the defence of North America without compromising Canadian sovereignty." Tuesday's report focuses on two current issues that the committee has deemed worthy of a more specific focus: the need for the Government of Canada to quickly improve the tracking of ships approaching and moving within Canadian territorial waters and the need to prepare Canadian soldiers better to act collectively with U.S. or NATO troops in the defence of North America. "I think it is a matter of catching up to the holes that still exist in the system," Liberal Senator and committee chairman Colin Kenny said at an Ottawa press conference Tuesday. "We've seen a rethinking of ports, but I don't think the government's there yet. ... There's an incredible number of these small harbours that really have nobody watching them." The committee's report calls for the establishment of a Canadian-U.S. joint operational planning group that would include representatives of the Canadian Navy, the Canadian Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard. The unit of approximately 50 people would be located at Colorado Springs, close to NORAD planning staff. The committee also recommends establishing multidepartmental operations centres at Halifax and Esquimalt capable of collecting and analyzing shipping intelligence to provide better information for all government agencies that deal with incoming vessels and to address coastal threats to North America. The report also suggests creating a requirement that all vessels planning to enter a Canadian port should be required to notify Canadian port authorities 48 hours prior to arrival and be equipped with transponders to permit electronic tracking of all approaching vessels by Canadian authorities. Those same security measures should be taken for vessels on the Great Lakes, the report says. "We certainly think that people can come ashore at these ports and not go through the system," Mr. Kenny said. "We think it is possible that you could have weapons of mass destruction come ashore." To upgrade their joint capacity to defend North America through the use of land forces, the committee's report recommends battalion or battle group Canadian Forces training exercises be reinstituted as quickly as possible to permit Canada's army to work in harmony with the armies of its allies, particularly the United States. "Such training was abandoned for reasons that include the underfunding and overtasking of Canada's armed forces," the committee said in its release. "This kind of large-scale training is essential if Canada is going to participate fully in the defence of North America." The committee also wants a joint Canada-U.S. land-force planning unit to improve planning for potential disasters, natural or otherwise, that threaten both countries. The committee's final report is due no later than Oct. 30, 2003. The committee has asked the federal government to respond to Tuesday's report within 150 days.