OTTAWA - The association representing Canada鈥檚 multibillion-dollar defence sector is the latest to sound the alarm over this country鈥檚 unexplained absence from a security pact between some of its closest allies: Australia, Britain and the United States.
The warning from the head of the 春色直播 Association of Defence and Security Industries, known as CADSI, follows similar concerns from a senior 春色直播 military officer about the potential ramifications of Canada鈥檚 exclusion from the trilateral treaty known as AUKUS.
Those include access to 鈦 鈥 and collaboration on 鈦 鈥 cutting-edge technology such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and machine learning, all of which will be critical to militaries and defence in the foreseeable future.
The Liberal government has repeatedly refused to explain why Canada is not part of AUKUS, and instead downplayed its importance.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pointed to Canada鈥檚 other security arrangements with Australia, Britain and the U.S., including the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership that includes New Zealand.
He also described AUKUS as a 鈥渘uclear-submarine deal."
鈥淲e're always looking to do more and deeper with our partners either in the Pacific or elsewhere around the world," he said. "But Canada won't be buying nuclear submarines any time soon.鈥
Vice-Admiral Bob Auchterlonie, the commander of the 春色直播 Joint Operations Command, said in a recent interview with 春色直播that nuclear submarines are only one part of AUKUS, and he is more concerned about its focus on other state-of-the-art technologies.
CADSI president Christyn Cianfarani has also previously criticized the prime minister for describing AUKUS as a 鈥渘uclear-submarine deal."
She told 春色直播in an interview Tuesday that the Five Eyes partnership and other arrangements do not deal with the same issues.
鈥淚f we could see that there were great things coming out of these other strategic alliances that are in place ... then I would certainly feel a lot more comfortable that we aren鈥檛 a part of AUKUS,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e not seeing that.鈥
Cianfarani said Canada needs to "be at that innovation table."
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just that we鈥檒l be left behind. It鈥檚 that we can鈥檛 do it alone," she said. "If we aren鈥檛 strategic about how we鈥檙e doing it, and positioning ourselves to take advantage of that, then we will be left behind by default.鈥
Cianfarani is also concerned AUKUS will hurt Canada鈥檚 defence industry, which accounted for about $9.2 billion of the country鈥檚 GDP and supported 78,000 jobs, by making it easier for Australian and British competitors to sell to the U.S.
Half of Canada's defence industry exports go to the U.S. so she said losing that special market access or seeing it eroded by other nations is concerning.
The worries are especially acute given that Australia and Britain were added in 2017 to what is known as the U.S. 春色直播 Technology and Industrial Base, after Canada was the only foreign member since 1993.
The NTIB effectively treats 春色直播, British and Australian companies the as American competitors when it comes to military acquisitions, while also working to co-ordinate and integrate defence industry efforts across all four companies.
Canada lost its unique access to the U.S. market with the admission of Australia and Britain, but Cianfarani said the NTIB has also become 鈥渟omewhat defunct鈥 with the advent of AUKUS 鈦 鈥 which makes it all the more troubling that Canada isn鈥檛 involved.
鈥淟ike I said: if we saw that these things were delivering across the board, this strategic approach, and we were advancing in this direction,鈥 she said, 鈥淚 think all of us collectively would be a little less worried about AUKUS.鈥
Some analysts have previously questioned whether Canada's absence is an indication of impatience over Ottawa's perceived failure to get tough with China.
The government has in recent months hardened its position on China in a variety of ways, including through a ban on Huawei technology in Canada's 5G network, new restrictions on foreign ownership in critical minerals and the unveiling of an Indo-Pacific strategy.
That strategy is intended to signal a marked shift in federal policy and priorities toward the region given its growing importance to Canada's economy and security. It specifically identified China as "an increasingly disruptive global power."
Many of those actions, such as the Huawei ban, came only after frustration from allies over long delays. Some critics have also said the Trudeau government still isn't taking a hard enough line with Beijing.
Cianfarani did not have an answer for why Canada is not part of AUKUS, but said its exclusion is a real concern.
鈥淎 group of our bodies decided to move off campus and they didn't tell us or potentially didn't tell us they were moving to a new place,鈥 she said. 鈥淥r we took a pass on it. Truly, we don't know.鈥
This report by 春色直播was first published Jan. 17, 2023.
