Military concerned by Canada's absence from American-British-Australian security pact
CTV
There are concerns at the highest levels of the Canadian Armed Forces that this country won't have access to the same cutting-edge military technology as its closest allies because it is not part of a security pact between Australia, Britain and the United States.
There are concerns at the highest levels of the Canadian Armed Forces that this country won't have access to the same cutting-edge military technology as its closest allies because it is not part of a security pact between Australia, Britain and the United States.
The trilateral treaty, nicknamed "AUKUS" after the three countries involved, was announced in September 2021 in what many have seen as a bid to counter China's growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific region, where Canada has growing economic and security interests.
While much of the attention around the pact has centred on American and British plans to provide nuclear submarine technology to Australia, Vice-Admiral Bob Auchterlonie told The Canadian Press in a recent interview that the arrangement is about much more.
Auchterlonie is the commander of the Canadian Joint Operations Command. In that role, he is responsible for managing dozens of military operations at home and abroad while closely monitoring the threats and challenges facing Canada and the Armed Forces.
“The fact is that (nuclear submarine) technology has existed for a while, so the sharing of that is not a big deal,” he said.
“The issue is when you start talking about advanced technology in terms of the artificial-intelligence domain, machine learning, quantum, all of these things that really matter moving forward. Those are conversations we need to be in on. And the issue is: Why are we not included in this? Is it resistance to get involved? Is it policy restrictions that we have? Or are we just not going to invest? That's the question. So it is a significant concern.”
The federal Liberal government has not said why Canada is not part of AUKUS, or even whether it was invited, with Defence Minister Anita Anand’s office again sidestepping the question last week.
