Not enough soldiers to stand on guard for thee or anybody else
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
152.00255
Summary
Learn English with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, addressing the Senate Standing Committee on Emergency Preparedness. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks about the role of the Canadian Armed Forces in responding to disasters and disasters, and the importance of an armed forces that is designed and trained to fight alone, and to fight with our allies on land, sea and air.
Transcript
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I would like to open my testimony by describing my two hats here today.
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First, as a soldier, retired, who served our country in peace, war, and peacekeeping operations for 27 years.
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And second, as an emergency manager, retired, who served in operations locally, municipally, provincially, federally, and internationally for 13 years.
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But first, if I may, a quote from ancient times.
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The role of the Canadian Armed Forces is, in my opinion, to protect the sovereignty of Canada,
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to meet our commitments to the defense of North America, to meet our commitments to NATO,
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to support international security, to carry out peacekeeping operations in support of the UN,
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and perform other tasks as assigned by the Government of Canada.
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These commitments mean we must have an armed forces that is designed and trained,
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to fight alone, and to fight with our allies on land, sea, and air.
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A side benefit of a force like this is that it can provide aid to civil authorities and aid to the civil power.
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Again, this is a benefit, not a primary goal, or even a secondary, of the Canadian forces.
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That said, the soldiers I commanded in my career were extremely proud to serve their fellow citizens in times of emergency,
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like the Red River floods in 1997, and the ice storm power outage in 1998.
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First, these actions take away from their primary role.
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Second, these actions drain time, resources, and funding from their primary role,
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a role which has been extremely underfunded for decades.
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And third, these actions can normally be met far better by other agencies
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if we had committed resources to emergency management,
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which is a discipline which exists in our country.
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A statement made by Paul Cellucci, the American Ambassador to Canada,
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when I was personally briefing him in Alberta on critical infrastructure protection.
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If we are seen as a parasite, not a partner in defense of our allies,
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we are immediately, and in long term, have consequences.
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With that, let me switch hats to being an emergency manager.
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Nationally, Canada has a system called emergency management.
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You probably have not heard a lot about it, especially in this pandemic,
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because it has been ignored, and in some cases, silenced.
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mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
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I will think we will talk about these four functions frequently today.
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Emergency management is an all-hazards approach,
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natural hazards, including biological, geological, and meteorological,
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but also human-induced hazards, both non-intentional and intentional.
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We need to discuss this all-hazards approach more today,
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as resources from one hazard can be used for other hazards,
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and the process for each of those four functions is identical.
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Emergency management works across all groupings in our country,
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to municipal government, to provincial government,
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to federal government, to international agencies.
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I hope we discuss these organizations' roles today in detail.
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85% of critical infrastructure in Canada is owned and operated,
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and assured to a great extent, by the private sector.
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But clearly, all orders of government have a role to play
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in ensuring the operation of our critical infrastructure,
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to ensure the safety and the security of our citizens.
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And the private sector plays an essential role in emergency management
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The same is true for non-government organizations,
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Emergency management has been long neglected by our country.
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the Senate Standing Committee on Emergency Preparedness
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the senior officials responsible for emergency management
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I put it to you that that is why today you are meeting to discuss,
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using the Armed Forces of Canada to do emergency management.
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The Canadian Armed Forces do have a role in emergencies,
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Am I suppose I got the one who passed the 50th minute