Parliamentary Committee Notes: Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy

PROC
Date: February 2, 2023
Classification: Unclassified
Fully releasable (ATIP)? Yes
Branch / Agency: PACB

Proposed Response:

• The Indo-Pacific is central to a number of Canada's most pressing national and economic security priorities, such as hostile activities by state actors, terrorism, cyber crime and the trafficking of drugs and humans.
• The Indo-Pacific Strategy will strengthen our intelligence capabilities in the region, enhance our cyber diplomacy and deepen partnerships with our allies.
• This will support Public Safety's mandate to modernize and maintain the integrity of our borders, address complex and evolving threats, including to our economy, and to protect our national security interests.
• The Indo-Pacific Strategy will help Canada address problematic behaviour by states in the region such as disinformation, espionage, malicious cyber activity and intimidation of communities.

Background:

The Indo-Pacific Strategy is a whole-of-government effort funded at $2.2 billion over five years that will position Canada to reinforce the rules-based international order while promoting a free, open, inclusive and sustainable Indo-Pacific.

Publicly announced on November 27, 2022 the Strategy sets out five strategic objectives: (i) Ensuring Resilience, Peace and Security; (ii) Canada as a Reliable and Engaged Partner; (iii) Trade, Investment and Supply Chain Resilience;  (iv) Investing in and Connecting People; and, (v) Sustainable and Green Future.

On April 19, 2023, Ambassador Ian Mckay was named as Canada's Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific, in addition to his existing duties as Canada's Ambassador to Japan.

In partnership with other departments, Public Safety and the Portfolio have received funding for three initiatives under the Peace and Security pillar as follows. Importantly, funding under each initiative is not specific to PS but covers multiple departments or agencies implicated.

• Strengthened Public Safety and Security ($87.8M over 5years)
  Canada will increase the capacity of its national security agencies to support Canadian interests and objectives in the Indo-Pacific. Canada's national security community will expand its focus on the region and strengthen its engagement with close allies while developing relations with Indo-Pacific partners. 
  
• Security Partnerships and Capacity-Building ($92.6M over 5 years)
  Canada will boost existing capacity-building programs in order to strengthen regional responses to crime, terrorism and threats from weapons proliferation. In addition, Canada's customs and law enforcement agencies will strengthen their cooperation and reinforce partnerships with regional counterparts and relevant institutions.
• Cybersecurity and Digital Technology Diplomacy ($47.4M over 5 years)
  Canada will launch a new multi-department initiative to develop Canada's cyber diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific. Canada will help develop cyber security capacity in select partner countries while increasing regional engagement on cyber issues and strengthening partnerships through the deployment of dedicated cyber attachés.

Long Term Objectives for PS and Portfolio
In 5-10 years, Canada will be better positioned to identify, understand, and counter the security challenges from the region, and will have bolstered its influence as a reliable intelligence partner within the community of Five Eyes security partners. We will have expanded cyber engagement with priority countries and enjoy increased credibility with key regional partners and allies. We will have enhanced cooperation with law enforcement agencies and use intelligence to mitigate threats stemming from the region.

Five Eyes Partners:
In recent years, Five Eyes partners have signaled the importance of security ties in the Indo-Pacific through the establishment of new alliances, including AUKUS (Australia, UK, U.S.) and the Quad (U.S., Australia, India and Japan). Strengthening Canada's intelligence and security contribution to the Indo-Pacific is critical to building our credibility as an engaged actor with like-minded countries.

China:
While the Strategy is not explicit at length about a "China Policy", it references a commitment to ‘challenge, compete, co-operate and co-exist' (4Cs) with China. Further, it reaffirms that Canada's commitment to work with partners to deter China from unilateral action toward Taiwan remains unchanged. The Strategy also positions Canada to seek greater engagement with key Indo-Pacific countries (i.e. India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia).

Cyber Security:
Canada's 2020 National Cyber Threat Assessment identifies China and North Korea (along with Russia and Iran) as posing the greatest state-sponsored cyber threats to Canadian individuals and organizations. Cyber threats by non-state actors are also of increasing concern regionally. As the threat increases, a substantial investment is critical to meet our domestic security responsibilities and be seen as a reliable international security partner.

Contacts:

Prepared by: Colleen Richards, Senior Policy Analyst, International Relations Division 343-542-5259
Approved by: Shannon Grainger, ADM Portfolio Affairs and Communications Branch

Date modified:

2023-09-26