Defence Watch

Figuring out how to mass produce combat-ready meals for the Canadian military isn't an easy task. Figuring out how to make those meals not taste like sludge is even harder. But that's Edith Jutras' job. She's the manager of the National Combat Rations Program and her team is responsible for producing up to two million meals per year. She joins the Ottawa Citizen's David Pugliese on the Defence Watch podcast to discuss how the military is fed in the field, how meals have such long shelf lives and why eggs are no longer on the menu.  

In 2015, former Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps released a major report on sexual misconduct in the Canadian Forces. It described a “hostile sexualized environment” in the military, particularly among recruits and the junior ranks, which included everything from swearing and sexual innuendo to “dubious relationships” between junior female staff and high-ranking men. It also included rape. Has anything changed since the Deschamps report?  On the Defence Watch podcast, the Ottawa Citizen's David Pugliese discusses this with women's rights advocate Julie Lalonde and lawyer and retired Col. Michel Drapeau.       

How do you make the Canadian Forces an attractive option for young people in 2019? And how does a rules-based employer get ahead when flexibility, variety and choice are sought after qualities in a job? The forces are trying to figure it out — and have introduced new policies to get recruits through the door. Canadian Forces Chief Warrant Officer Alain Guimond and Scott Taylor, publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine, join David Pugliese to talk about the next generation of military personnel in this installment of the Defence Watch podcast:

The future of Canada's far north is far from certain and its Arctic sovereignty isn't universally accepted. China's government plans to invest up to $1 trillion to develop the polar regions, while the Russians are expanding military bases in their Arctic territories. Meanwhile, environmental risks grow each year as climate change transforms the north. Retired Lt.-Gen. Mike Day and retired Col. Pierre Leblanc join Dave to discuss the role of Canada's military in the Arctic and the threats it faces.

Military procurement in Canada involves billions of dollars in spending and has a reputation of lengthy delays and inefficiency. But is that reputation fair? Dave talks about this with Pat Finn, the Assistant Deputy Minister for Materiel at the Department of National Defence. Finn is responsible for purchasing everything from rifles to warships. They also discuss other ongoing issues with defence procurement and the complexity of keeping up with emerging technologies.

In this episode, Dave conducts a rare interview with an active member within Canada’s secretive special forces unit, JTF2. “Jeff” (not his real name) takes Dave inside the world of JTF2, discussing everything from myths surrounding the unit, to what it takes to make it through JTF2’s selection process, to making a bomb out of a pen. Later in the episode, Dave talks to retired Lt.-Gen. Mike Day, a former commander of JTF2. Mike talks to Dave about the history of the unit, how it’s been deployed and what its future might hold as military brass plan on eyeing civilian recruits to bolster the ranks. 

Defence Watch is a limited series hosted by the Ottawa Citizen’s David Pugliese, who’s covered the Canadian military for more than 30 years. Through a number of wide-ranging interviews with insiders, experts and military personnel, Pugliese takes an in-depth look at a variety of subjects involving the Canadian Forces.