Remarks by Minister of National Defence Bill Blair at IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2024, Plenary Session 6

June 2, 2024

Distinguished delegates, panel members, good morning, bonjour tout le monde.

It is a great pleasure and an honour to be here at the 21^st Shangri-La Dialogue as Canada's Minister of National Defence.

This is my first trip to the Shangri-La Dialogue. I have been extraordinarily impressed by this gathering and its emphasis on the importance of collaboration and communication as we all work together to uphold peace and security in the two oceans that connect this vast and vital region.

I want to take the opportunity as well to thank the IISS and Singapore for hosting this important dialogue. It has actually changed perceptions for me personally in a very material and important way and I'm very grateful for the experience.

I am very pleased to be able to say that Canada is a proud Pacific nation.

My country has a Pacific coastline stretching some 25,000 kilometres, and, as a Pacific nation, Canada's future and prosperity is deeply tied to the stability and security of the entire Indo Pacific region.

It is the fastest growing region by economy and by population and it is Canada's second-largest regional export market and trading partner. 

The ties between our peoples are strong. Nearly one-fifth of all Canadians have family origins that began here in the Indo Pacific.

Canada's role as a Pacific nation is part of who we are as a country. For that reason, a free open and inclusive Indo-Pacific is vital to our nation's future as well.

We recognized a few years ago that we needed to be more present in this part of the world.

It's one of the reasons we released Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy back in 2022, a strategy that is investing some two and a half billion dollars to increase our presence in the region, including over half a billion dollars to increase our security and defence ties.

This investment allows us to increase our naval presence from two to three frigates each year.

It has enabled us to increase our participation in joint exercises in a new military capacity building program.

And we are engaging with regional partners in order to bolster cyber capabilities, to address issues of disaster risk reduction, emergency relief and humanitarian assistance.

Our partners and Allies have told us that they need to see a more reliable and consistent partner. I want to assure you all that Canada is making the necessary investments not only to be more present here, but to be an engaged and contributing partner to all of the very important initiatives that we have spoken about throughout this dialogue.

Our presence here in the Indo Pacific runs deep. We have benefitted tremendously from long-standing engagements with the military in the region and these relationships, as I have come to learn, are the strength of our ties.

Since the Korean War our military has maintained a continuous presence in the United Nations Command in South Korea where today a very proud Canadian, Lieutenant-General Derek McCaulay, serves as its deputy commander.

On Operation NEON, we deploy aircraft and ships to monitor UN Security Council sanctions evasion by North Korea.

And we are present in the region today.

For decades we've been sharing expertise with our regional partners particularly in Southeast Asia through our military training and cooperation program and we want to do even more with partners in the region.

Today, for example, I'm very pleased to confirm that Canada will join the new initiative on Defence Industrial Base Resilience in the Indo-Pacific that was announced earlier in this conference by US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.

I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to commend Secretary Austin for his extraordinary leadership in every theater of the world.

This initiative is going to strengthen our collective security and it's going to ensure that Canada, the United States and all of our partners can harness innovation and reduce barriers to cooperation. It's going to help us build a more secure Indo-Pacific region and support our domestic defence industries.

Now if I may return to the theme of this panel.

Canada is a trading nation and our economy relies on a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. That's why through our Indo-Pacific Strategy we are increasing our naval deployments in the region.

We’ve long deployed warships from our west coast to the regions but most recently through our Indo-Pacific Strategy we have announced that we are also beginning to deploy our ships from the Atlantic Ocean through the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean.

These warships sail through the Indian Ocean on their way to the Pacific. And as a matter of fact, His Majesty's Canadian Ship Montréal is currently making that passage and at this moment the ship and crew are conducting a port visit at Port Klang in Malaysia, just up the coast.

And in the coming days that ship with its Canadian sailors will transit through the Strait of Malacca and onward towards the Pacific.

The reason we deploy these ships is to support the rules-based international order in the region because we believe that all of our ships must be able to travel freely and along trade routes.

Both the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean must always be free and open for all to sail according to international rules.

We must keep these two great oceans secure and connected by respecting the rules that govern conduct between nations. The Montréal is the first of three Canadian frigates that will be in the region.

And today I'm also pleased to announce that this week HMCS Vancouver will be departing from our Pacific Coast to train later this month along with the naval forces of 28 other countries through RIMPAC

We'll be deploying a supply ship Asterix, our new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel Max Bernays, and sending nearly 300 Canadian Armed Forces members into the region.

And following these military exercises in Hawaii, Vancouver will then sell westwards to perform its duties in the Indo-Pacific.

I’m very proud to also share with you that Royal Canadian Navy Commodore Kristjan Monaghan will be commanding RIMPAC’s entire maritime component this year.

For us that is a testament to Canada's commitment to leadership as we engage with all our partners in the Indo-Pacific.

In short, our Indo-Pacific Strategy is intended to deliver results.

We're conducting more port visits in your countries, and we're participating more in multinational training exercises with your militaries.

We're also expanding our military capacity and building upon efforts through training programs that improve interoperability.

Perhaps most importantly, given the very understandable concerns that the region has expressed with respect to climate change and climate-related emergencies and disasters, we believe there's great opportunity to continue to invest in humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, risk reduction and emergency response.

Nearly two months ago our prime minister and I launched Canada's new defence policy which we've entitled Our North Strong and Free.

This policy takes note of some very significant geopolitical shifts that we are all facing, including the fact that our Arctic is becoming far more accessible as a result of climate change.

We anticipate that perhaps by 2050 the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia will be through our Arctic.

It takes note in of Russia's illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. I want to take this opportunity as well to assure both President Zelenskyy and Defence Minister Umerov that Canada will always stand with Ukraine until its victory.

Our commitment to Ukraine is unwavering and unyielding and that is why our prime minister will also reiterate that position at the upcoming Ukraine peace summit taking place in Switzerland on June 14^th.

But in addition to the Euro-Atlantic, our defence policy identifies the Indo-Pacific as one of the two priority regions for our military presence for the very first time.

Our presence in the region is critical. That's why our policy is going to be investing over ten billion dollars to sustain our naval fleets so that we can continue to deploy our ships into the region on a regular basis and be that reliable and dependable partner that our Allies and friends have asked for.

This policy is very clear about the challenges we are facing.

We know for example that some countries have been pursuing their own interests or behaviours that challenge existing laws and norms. We believe that these actions contribute to rising instability and an increased risk of miscalculation and error.

It therefore falls to each of our countries to work together to uphold the global rules that have delivered peace and prosperity for billions of people in this region and around the world. And we stand ready to engage with China, for example, and with all our partners throughout the Indo-Pacific to ensure a secure and stable region.

I think the most important element of that engagement is strong communication between our defence institutions and it is vital.

To that end, I had the opportunity through this dialogue to engage with China's Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun. This was an important and welcome step. It has been over 11 years since Canada's Minister of National Defence sat at the table and had a discussion with their Chinese counterpart. It was long overdue.

I can share with you some of the things that I expressed to the Minister. I expressed our concern about China's recent military exercises around Taiwan and the potential provocation that could result.

I also expressed concern about the growing economic support that China is supplying to Russia. That is a concern to Canada and all our Allies who stand united with Ukraine in its defence of the illegal invasion of their sovereign territory.

I shared with him that we expect all countries in this region to behave responsibly and to respect the international rules that keep us safe.

It was a frank but important discussion and we also found common ground and interest in ensuring that together we work on disaster risk-reduction, an appropriate response to emergencies throughout the region and around the world. I'm very hopeful that this dialogue will continue.

Let me conclude by reiterating that Canada is very eager to increase its cooperation with regional partners in both of the great oceans that we are here to discuss this morning.

We know that we've got work to do to earn our place at that table. I want to assure you all we are prepared to do that work. We welcome opportunities to strengthen our defence relationship with each of your countries.

We are committed to increasing our presence and our engagement so that you will not only see more of us, but we will build stronger relationships together.

Our ties to the Indo-Pacific, as I've said, run deep and those ties are only growing to deliver a secure, prosperous future for all our peoples.

Let us work together to ensure a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific where rules and norms prevail.

I look forward to continuing this dialogue with all of you and I want to than once again the IISS for convening this important conversation.

Thank you. Merci.