THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, DEFENCE AND VETERANS AFFAIRS

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

OTTAWA, Monday, April 29, 2024
(53)

[English]

The Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs met this day at 4 p.m., in room C128, Senate of Canada Building, the chair, the Honourable Tony Dean, presiding.

Members of the committee present: The Honourable Senators Boehm, Cardozo, Carignan, P.C., Dagenais, Dasko, Deacon (Ontario), Dean, Loffreda, McNair, Oh and Patterson (11).

Other senators present: The Honourable Senator Al Zaibak (1).

Participating in the meeting: Ariel Shapiro and Anne-Marie Therrien-Tremblay, analysts, Library of Parliament.

Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the Senate on Thursday, February 10, 2022, the committee continued its study on issues relating to national security and defence generally.

WITNESSES:

Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces:

Major-General Greg Smith, Director General, International Security Policy.

Global Affairs Canada:

Neil Brennan, Director, Gulf States Relations;

Karim Morcos, Director, Israel, West Bank and Gaza;

Eric Laporte, Executive Director, Security and Defence Relations.

 As individuals:

Thomas Juneau, Associate Professor, Public and International Affairs, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa.

Sami Aoun, Director, Observatory on the Middle East and North Africa; Raoul-Dandurand Chair, Strategic and Diplomatic Studies, University of Quebec in Montreal.

Nathan Sachs, Director, Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution (by videoconference).

Janice Stein, Professor, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto (by videoconference).

General (Ret'd) Dominique Trinquand, Former Head, French Military Mission to the UN (by videoconference).

Major-General Greg Smith made a statement, and together with Karim Morcos, Neil Brennan and Eric Laporte, answered questions.

At 5:01 p.m., the committee suspended.

At 5:11 p.m., the committee resumed.

Janice Stein and General (Ret'd) Dominique Trinquand each made a statement and answered questions.

At 6:13 p.m., the committee suspended.

At 6:22 p.m., the committee resumed.

Thomas Juneau, Sami Aoun and Nathan Sachs each made a statement and answered questions.

At 7:20 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the chair.

ATTEST:

Ericka Dupont

Clerk of the Committee