WASHINGTON — “She’s pretty tough,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Thursday as he gestured at Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand during a news conference at the Pentagon. “She’ll kick me in the shins if I don’t keep her on time.”
It was Anand’s schedule then — and perhaps Austin’s lack of shin guards — that accounted for the shortness of details after they met for more than an hour to discuss Ukraine, NORAD and defense of the Arctic, and other collaborations. The media briefing was cut off after brief comments from each official and only two questions — one from an American reporter and one from a Canadian in french seulement from Radio-Canada, to which the English version of the answer was abruptly cut off to keep Anand on schedule.
But if the proceedings were short on details, they weren’t short on displays of mutual admiration. This was the first time Austin has hosted a bilateral briefing at the Pentagon with a foreign visitor — due mostly to COVID-19 restrictions since he’s held that office — and it was Anand’s first visit to Washington as defense minister. When her car rolled up to the entrance of the building, she was greeted by a military honor guardincluding a brass band that played both countries’ national anthems.
In their remarks, Austin and Anand heaped praise on one another in discussing the importance of their collaboration with each other and allies in supporting Ukraine during the Russian invasion.
“At this week’s historic meeting (on Tuesday in Ukraine) of what is now the Contact Group on Ukrainian Defense, Canada stepped up with an important announcement on armored vehicles and other vital capabilities for Ukraine. Madam Minister, that’s just what we’ve come to expect from Canada, and from your own leadership, and sense of moral purpose,” Austin said.
“We know that we can count on the enduring partnership between the United States and Canada. Canada isn’t just a great neighbour, it’s also a true friend and a steadfast ally.”
Anand responded in kind. “The United States quite simply is Canada’s most important ally and defense partner,” she said before outlining the two countries’ support of Ukraine, detailing some of Canada’s contributions.
It was hard not to feel like Canada’s help to Ukraine is a drop in the bucket compared to the Americans — especially when Austin congratulated Canada for this week’s donation of eight armored vehicles and four Howitzer heavy artillery guns as he announced President Joe Biden had asked Congress to approve US$16 billion more in defense aid to Ukraine. That single request for supplemental funding represents an amount that’s well over half of Canada’s entire national defense budget. Still, Anand pointed out that Canada’s defense budget is now the sixth largest among NATO’s 30 member countries, and growing.
Certainly there was no diminishment in Austin’s tone or demeanor. “Let me again express my appreciation to you and to Prime Minister Trudeau, and your colleagues for your announcement that Canada will send eight armored vehicles to support Ukraine,” he said, “and let me applaud you for everything that Canada is doing to help Ukraine defend itself, including your extraordinary efforts to train Ukrainian forces.”
The display of unity was likely the intended substance of the message. For Biden’s administration, a return to international co-operation with allies has long been a priority, and both countries have gone to great lengths to co-ordinate an international coalition working in lockstep on sanctions and aid to support Ukraine.
But it wasn’t just the defense of Ukraine on the agenda Thursday, but also the defense of North America. The two countries are partners in NORAD, the air defense command responsible for detecting and fending off air threats, including those arriving over the Arctic. The systems NORAD relies on are reportedly in dire need of modernization, including Canadian radar stations that may no longer be able to detect Russian missile attacks. Both countries have for some time been saying they are working on modernization, and Anand has recently affirmed Canada’s commitment to invest in the project. This week, the Ottawa Citizen reported that Canada would be investing $1 billion in upgrading that radar, although no confirmation has been forthcoming.
And no confirmation came Thursday. “We also discussed our shared responsibilities for protecting our homelands through the NORAD command,” Austin said. “We talked about our joint efforts to strengthen North American defense ties, including the need to ensure a stable Arctic region where international norms are respected.” In French, according to my admittedly rudimentary translation capabilities, Anand also spoke of the discussions about NORAD as being priorities alongside Ukraine, especially the need to modernize the technologies involved.
It’s an issue that, while not exactly an emergency, has taken on some new urgency in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the more hostile global environment it has revealed, at a time when both China and Russia might soon become inclined to make claims on Canada’s north.
Anand promised she was working with her US allies on a “robust plan to modernize NORAD.”
“We will have more to say on this in the short term,” she said.
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