- 7 hours ago
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00:00Tell us a little bit about why now and what that symbolizes as well.
00:03Well, it's the first time that a defense minister joins a trade minister to lead such a mission.
00:09It's 300 strong, 175 organizations and companies from every sector.
00:14About 50 of those companies are in the defense sphere.
00:17So for us, this is a moment where we're continuing to build, deepen, widen our relationship with Japan.
00:22And also in the context of the Indo-Pacific, where we're making similar investments,
00:26spending the kind of time, getting Canada back in the groove, so to speak, when it comes to the Indo
00:30-Pacific.
00:31Tell us a little bit about that.
00:33Do you feel that Canada has retreated a little bit in the past?
00:36And where do you expect to see more involvement and cooperation with partners here?
00:41Well, typically it would be government to government, military to military, business to business,
00:45which is a big focus right now.
00:46Canada has upped its GDP spend on defense to over 2%,
00:51achieving the target a full five years ahead of schedule.
00:53So we're very pleased now to get the resources that we need to make these investments.
00:57So we are investing heavily in rebuilding, rearming, rebooting our Canadian armed forces.
01:02We also have a new defense industrial strategy,
01:04where we're investing heavily in Canadian companies, the defense sector.
01:08And we need to do that together with good partners like Japan.
01:11The NATO Secretary General trying to appeal to President Trump's side when it came to boosting their spending,
01:18it doesn't necessarily seem to have worked.
01:20How is your relationship with the United States, especially military to military security concerns?
01:26Listen, we have a continental security arrangement with the United States.
01:29We manage the relationship.
01:30We have NORAD, of course, which is the only binational command in the world.
01:34It works well.
01:35It's together.
01:35But, you know, this is about now for Canada, expanding in this area here into the Indo-Pacific.
01:40I've had meetings and arrangements with folks in Indonesia, the Philippine Minister of Defense was in Canada two weeks ago
01:46for the first time,
01:47Korea, Japan, of course.
01:50Australia just sold their over-the-horizon radar system to Canada, the largest single defense export in Australian history.
01:57So Canada is moving coherently, systematically into the region.
02:00I mean, you are sending your warships to the Indo-Pacific for port calls to Japan, training as well, exercises.
02:08Is there a concern that that might be seen negatively by China?
02:12It's not new.
02:13We're recalibrating our relationship with China.
02:15But we're also, as I say, we can do both at the same time.
02:18We can recalibrate.
02:19But on defense, security and intelligence, we're also reaching out to like-minded, values-driven, rules-based countries like Japan.
02:25And so far, it is taking hold.
02:28People are very receptive, welcoming Canada.
02:30But the presence of vessels in this area is not new for Canada.
02:34What does recalibrating the relationship with China mean?
02:37Well, it means we had some period of difficulty between Chinese and Canadian authorities, the two Michaels, all that year,
02:44several years ago.
02:44But we're now rebooting that relationship on different fronts, and this is exactly where we're at.
02:49But this mission is really, really focused on Japan, of course, because of the depth of ability, of talent, AI
02:55research, quantum, cryptography.
02:58This is something we're looking at, space, maritime domain awareness.
03:02There's a powerhouse here of talent, and this is exactly what we're looking to plug into also from a Canadian
03:07perspective,
03:07because we know if we actually combine our efforts here, we're going to do much better.
03:11When it comes to these exercises and training in the region, we always see them very regularly.
03:17But very regularly, we also get negative reactions coming from the likes of Beijing.
03:22We have seen tensions increase in the Taiwan Strait.
03:25Now, with geopolitical flashpoints like Ukraine, does that give Canada also a different sense of responsibility when it comes to
03:34different regions?
03:35It would be fair to say that things have changed.
03:40Tensions have changed.
03:41The geopolitical has changed.
03:43Canadians are realizing now that their geography won't necessarily protect them.
03:47We saw, for example, in the Middle East, Iran deploy a missile that actually traveled 5,000 kilometers,
03:54when we've been told for over two decades they had no such missile in their arsenal.
03:58So we understand that change.
04:00We understand the threat landscape has changed.
04:02But we're managing our way forward cautiously, thoughtfully.
04:06We're building these relationships.
04:08We're moving into the Indo-Pacific in a way we planned on doing so in 2017, 2018.
04:13The pandemic hit.
04:14And now that we have more resourcing as a result of the 2% fund,
04:18and we're well on the way to the 3.5% fund, we are in a position now to do
04:23much more.
04:23Is it possible to equate the Taiwan risk as a Ukraine risk?
04:28I wouldn't say that.
04:29I would say that it's a risk.
04:31I would say that countries here are doing a phenomenal job of managing their way through it.
04:35But we've got to keep talking.
04:37Most importantly, we've got to keep the dialogue moving.
04:39But this mission here is largely now about consolidating relationships
04:44with Japanese actors in the business, in the government, in many spheres.
04:48So this is what we're all about here now.
04:50That's why 300 people decided to join us.
04:52It was not really difficult.
04:53But here they are.
04:54We had a major gathering last night of 500 people,
04:57including 200 Japanese executives and leaders.
05:01I met with my counterpart yesterday for a full hour,
05:04Minister Koizumi.
05:05We had a very good discussion about Canada-Japan-Japanese relations in this area.
05:09We're making progress.
05:10I know that you also toured some frigates as well earlier this week.
05:13Are there any specific defense purchase commitments?
05:17We know that, of course, Japan has lifted most of its export restrictions
05:21when it comes to military equipment.
05:24Look, we're looking at all kinds of options and opportunities.
05:27That's what the business folks have been doing here for the last two and a half days.
05:30Japan is a powerhouse in certain sectors.
05:32We're a powerhouse in other sectors.
05:34This is about us procuring from Japan and Japan procuring from Canada.
05:38That's the kind of trade that we're giving rise to in our defense industrial strategy.
05:42And I know that Japan is also looking to see how they can accentuate their own.
05:46That's what the minister and I, in part, spoke about yesterday.
05:48So it's very encouraging.
05:50We're like-minded.
05:51We have the same values.
05:52We're rules-based.
05:53We believe in the international order.
05:54We believe in the United Nations.
05:56We believe in dispute resolution.
05:58That's why we're pleased to be here.
06:00When it comes to really cooperation between smaller nations,
06:04we have seen the global combat air program as well between Japan, Italy, and the U.K. as well.
06:10How does Canada view such partnerships?
06:13Well, we view these opportunities to come together and pool resources and research and capacity as a positive thing.
06:21Many small countries, smaller countries, I would hardly classify Japan as a small country.
06:25It's an economic powerhouse.
06:26Our countries can come together, take our best, our brightest, combine our efforts, and do well.
06:32We can do well, obviously, for our people, and we can do well in terms of our industrial sectors.
06:36Would Canada be considering, perhaps, joining that initiative?
06:40Canada's manifested an interest.
06:42Canada is monitoring it closely.
06:43It's very interesting to see how it's going forward.
06:45But right now, we're so busy executing on this Indo-Pacific strategy.
06:49We're continuing to stay in touch with our folks.
06:52I think we'll talk more about it when we get to the leaders' summit in NATO.
06:56I'm looking forward to seeing my counterparts, as many of those who might be able to come from Italy, Japan,
07:00and, of course, from the U.K.
07:02And, of course, Iran, the ongoing negotiations will be a key theme there.
07:08How confident are you that we'll get an interim deal to be a permanent one?
07:11I always remain hopeful.
07:12There's no other way to be, in my view.
07:14We have to remain hopeful.
07:15Peace is the best outcome.
07:17The alternative is never a positive one.
07:20So I think that if we can help guide along both parties in the negotiations, encourage it, that's a good
07:26thing.
07:26But we're also, we remain available to be of assistance in the multinational maritime mission that is being headed up
07:33by the Brits and the French.
07:35Canada has offered up its own capacity, vessels, demining, cyber, intelligence.
07:41We'll see how that all comes together.
07:42Before I let you go, we just saw Prime Minister Carney releasing a statement in terms of a potential multilateral
07:50security defense bank.
07:54What do you think of that mechanism functioning as a World Bank?
07:59And is there any traction if this initiative were to be pushed forward?
08:03We think this is a phenomenal opportunity for all of our countries because the Defense and Security Resilience Bank, the
08:09DSRB,
08:09modeled after the World Bank and structure, would actually provide a lot of capital and a lot of assistance to
08:15small and medium-sized enterprises right here in Japan,
08:18back in Canada, in the Philippines, all over the world.
08:21Any member state would be able to plug and play in the system, be able to borrow, be able to
08:25capitalize.
08:26We need more investment in the defense sector.
08:28This is what this is intending to address.
08:30Did you discuss this potential bank with Japan while here and what reaction did you get?
08:34Yes, we have.
08:34We've raised it on several occasions.
08:36I think the government here is considering it, as are other countries.
08:39But right now we're in the process of moving it along with other jurisdictions to see if we can get
08:44more interest.