NDVA Committee Report

LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

1. That the Government increase the budget for the Department of National Defence.

2. That when considering additional funding the Government do so, not only with a view to covering operational costs related to the counterterrorism effort, but also with a view toward addressing problems related to program integrity.

3. In addition, our Committee recommends that the current personnel strength of both the Regular and Reserve forces be reviewed.

4. That the Government immediately initiate a major review of our foreign and defence policies in light of the situation since September 11th.

5. That Parliament play a significant role in both review processes.

6. That the Cabinet Committee on Public Security and Counterterrorism be made a permanent standing committee of Cabinet and that it be allocated the necessary staff resources to carry out its mandate.

7. That the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP) accelerate the production of a detailed inventory of Canada’s critical infrastructure and the development of cooperative arrangements with public and private sector operators of the infrastructure.

8. That the budget of OCIPEP be increased to ensure adequate funding of measures designed to improve the protection of computer networks and other elements of the critical infrastructure, including closer cooperation with similar agencies in the United States.

9. That the budget for the emergency preparedness element of OCIPEP be increased to significantly bolster the national capacity to provide disaster relief anywhere within Canada to assist municipal and provincial governments whenever disasters caused by nature or terrorists occur.

10. That Canada acquire additional heavy transport aircraft and replace older models to ensure the strategic and tactical airlift capacity required for the rapid and efficient deployment of personnel and relief supplies to areas within Canada dealing with natural disasters and major terrorist attacks as well as for the transport of troops and military supplies to overseas operations.

11. That the Government place a higher priority on providing the Canadian Forces with additional sealift capability.

12. That the Government allocate sufficient resources to bolster the ability of the Disaster Assistance Response Team of the Canadian Forces to respond to emergency situations within Canada while maintaining its capacity to assist humanitarian aid and disaster relief efforts around the world.

13. That the Department of National Defence examine various options including the creation of a core unit of medical and other personnel within DART which could be deployed on very short notice within Canada when disasters or major terrorist incidents occur.

14. That additional resources be allocated to OCIPEP in order to increase funding for training programs for municipal, provincial, and private sector first responders on techniques to mitigate the consequences of nuclear, biological and chemical terrorist attacks.

15. That the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Response Team of the Canadian Forces be expanded by increasing the number of personnel and by dispersing detachments to various locations across Canada in order to increase the military’s ability to rapidly assist first responders in the wake of terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction.

16. That more training be provided to Reserve as well as Regular Force personnel on the detection of, and on measures to deal with, the consequences of nuclear, biological, and chemical attacks so that they can operate safely and effectively if they are deployed to assist civilian authorities in the wake of such attacks.

17. That the previously announced acquisition of protective clothing and sensors for military personnel dealing with nuclear, biological and chemical incidents be accelerated as much as possible and that the evaluation of the requirements for additional equipment of this type be given a high priority.

18. That the Department of National Defence bolster the ability of the Reserves to contribute to disaster relief and to the military’s response to terrorist attacks within Canada.

19. That the number of personnel of Joint Task Force 2 be increased significantly, possibly to over 1,000 members, to improve its capacity to respond to hostage taking and other terrorist attacks within Canada, to maintain its interoperability with similar allied forces when deploying outside the country, and to contribute meaningfully to international efforts against terrorism.