The Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence

has the honour to table its

FIRST REPORT

Your Committee, which was authorized by the Senate to incur expenses for the purpose of its examination and consideration of such legislation and other matters as were referred to it, reports, pursuant to Rule 104, that the expenses incurred by the Committee during the First Session of the Thirty-eighth Parliament are as follows:

1.     With respect to its special study to examine and report on the need for a national security policy for Canada (authorized by the Senate on Wednesday October 20, 2004):

a)  During this study, your Committee spent 361.8 hours meeting 731 persons in hearings and fact-finding visits.  In addition to hearings in Ottawa, your Committee held public hearings and conducted fact-finding visits in Kingston, Windsor, Toronto (twice), Saint John, Charlottetown, St. John’s, Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Halifax and Montreal. Your Committee held town hall meetings in Kingston, Saint John, St. John’s, Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Halifax and Ottawa.  Your Committee also travelled to New York, New York, Norfolk, Virginia, and Washington, District of Columbia to conduct fact-finding discussions with senior officials from the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the U.S. military, academics, and U.S. Congressional and Administration officials. Your Committee also travelled to London, England, Brussels, Belgium and Mons, Belgium to conduct fact-finding discussions with senior officials from the British government and armed forces, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and academics.  Your Committee also travelled to Kabul, Afghanistan, to conduct fact-finding discussions with Canadian Forces personnel deployed overseas. During this study, there were 1,374 references to the Committee in the print media. There were 454,315 hits on the Committee’s Website.

b)  Your Committee submitted three substantive reports entitled “Canadian Security Guidebook, 2005 Edition: An Update of Security Problems in Search of Solutions” (December 2004); “Borderline Insecure” (June 2005); and “Wounded – Canada’s Military and The Legacy of Neglect” (September 2005).