‘Canada Is Vulnerable,’ Tory MP Says After Chinese Balloon Incursion and Interference Attempts

Conservative MP Michael Chong rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 26, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Conservative MP and foreign affairs critic Michael Chong is calling for immediate action from the federal government to counter both attempts of foreign political interference and physical incursions into Canada’s air space.

“Canada is vulnerable [because] this government has failed to: counter foreign interference, stop funding Beijing’s military research, upgrade NORAD’s early warning system, and acquire modern fighter aircraft,” Chong wrote in a Twitter post on Feb. 14.

“Does the government understand how vulnerable we are?”

Chong also said in the House of Commons on Feb. 13 that recent violations of Canadian air space should serve as a “wake-up call” to the federal government.

“Over the last eight years, the government has had ample warning from our intelligence agencies and our military, and despite these warnings, Canada is vulnerable,” Chong said.

A high-altitude Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down by the U.S. military off the coast of the Carolinas on Feb. 4 after floating over North America from west to east, including through Canada, for a number of days.

The incident was followed by three more unidentified flying objects being shot down in Canadian and American air space between Feb. 10 and Feb. 12, with one coming down over northeastern Alaska, another in the Yukon, and the third in Lake Huron.

Officials are yet to state whether or not the three incidents are related to the initial Chinese spy balloon.

NORAD

Chong reiterated in the House on Feb. 13 that the Liberal government should “upgrade NORAD’s early warning system and acquire modern fighter jets,” both of which have been targeted in federal spending announcements over the past year.

Defence Minister Anita Anand said in June 2020 that the federal government would be investing nearly $5 billion over the next six years to bring North America’s aging defence systems up to date.

Anand also said the funding would be part of a larger investment plan in which Ottawa plans to commit up to $40 billion over the next 20 years to upgrade NORAD.

Anand also announced in early January of this year that the federal government will be spending $19 billion over the next nine years to replace its fleet of outdated CF-18 Hornets with 88 F-35 fighter jets.

The first 16 jets will arrive by 2028, but Canada will not receive the full fleet until 2032.

Noé Chartier, Katabella Roberts, and Isaac Teo contributed to this report.