Walter semianiw biography

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you for the invitation to address the committee.

As the last commander of Canada Command, responsible for Canada's north from a military perspective, my comments today, as I'm sure you're aware, will be focused on the threats to Canada's north and on what the Government of Canada can do to address those threats.

To provide you with some context, I had the privilege of travelling throughout the north for over two and a half years, working closely with the commander of Northern Command, my U.S.

counterpart responsible for the U.S. Arctic, as well as exercising in the north with many different partners.

I'm sure the committee has already heard from other witnesses that threat can be determined by two factors, which some would say are different sides of the same coin: first, the threat; and second, the capabilities.

They come together to determine the level of the threat,