Brett Boudreau

New report by @CAGlobalAffairs tells the story of a 5+ year DND initiative labelled by leaders as "incompatible" with govt policy, and lacking "appropriate authorities & oversight." See: cgai.ca/the_rise_and_f…

@steffanwatkins The Brits, Italians and Australians had no problem and no issue informing their publics immediately after they came under fire.

Damage control has been deployed. He meant he learned of the La Presse story while overseas, he knew the whole and deliberately chose to not tell the public. Much better? Not really. x.com/i/status/20347…

It should be absolutely impossible for a foreign base, where there are Canadian Armed Forces members stationed, to come under hostile fire, and for the Minister of National Defence to not be told about it. Heads should roll from the top down at DND/CAF. Enough is enough.

Defence succeeded in making a story that deserved one short tweet from CJOC ‘the day of’, into a multi-day public dissection of ‘who knew what, when’ … seriously distracting from an excellent series of funding announcements for much needed initiatives and equipment.

@davidfrum Could really be quite something when the German Chancellor visits.

It was not a good idea for the prime minister of the politest nation in the world to accept a face-to-face meeting with this American president

@kinsellawarren Going to be quite something should the German Chancellor visit.

Heard this happen. 彼は気が狂っている

Defence managed to turn what should have been a routine ops-related update of minor significance, into a multi-day story about overt and overbearing secrecy. DND is the canary in the coal mine in terms of capacity and capability of federal government communication function.

@GowlingJordan Astonishing. They have managed to turn what should have been a one-day story into one that has real legs.

Today the Defence Minister said he only learned about the Iranian missile attack on the Ali Al-salem Air Base in Kuwait where CAF were stationed after La Presse reported on it. Full Story ⬇️ nationalpost.com/news/canada/de…

@steffanwatkins OMG!! The operational security breach, putting all those Australian lives at risk! Lesson for @CJOC_COIC, @NationalDefence, @CDS_Canada_CEMD, being transparent about CAF operations is possible. We used to do it, as a matter of course and principle, as ‘the right thing to do’.

Same day. The Australian government are so much better at communications than the Canadian government it should make Canadian officials ashamed of themselves.

@brianlilley The real insight of his comment is what it says about the sad state of Defence and government communications. More than 140 generals and nearly 1000 public affairs staff and DND can’t marshal up a uniformed spokesperson to regularly and routinely inform the public?!

It's unbelievable that PM Carney has gotten away without answering why Canadian troops were attacked on February 28 and he said nothing until it was reported in the media late last week. Now he's off on vacation, so we won't hear much more about this. torontosun.com/opinion/column…

@irbrodie 😂

It would be nice to see some shots from Combat Camera

The public affairs functional authority at Defence is broken, and it is not obvious that senior leadership @CanadianForces + the @NationalDefence care enough to improve the situation. A uniformed spokesperson with quality support staff would be a good start.

A good dissection here of social media posting best practice, if anyone in DND/CAF is paying attention.

The recent public communications effort by Defence is shameful, the downward trend line in this capability is worrisome, and it is not obvious any senior leadership actions are being taken institutionally to improve. The effort is too little, and too late: it's a malign institutional mindset toward public communication that is a classic recipe for mis-and disinformation to flourish. This situation should seriously worry Canadians, and should seriously worry senior CAF leadership who are risking public faith, trust and confidence. “It's operational security" is a long-standing go-to excuse by the military to avoid the very real challenge of conducting proactive communications in today's information space. The DND is now an organization that thinks confirming the number of soldiers who got frostbite on an exercise is a national secret, and that releasing an image of the RCAF commander signing an F-35 fuselage is too awkward to explain. Secrecy is a regrettable feature, not a bug, of the communications mindset at Defence, and directly hurts public trust in the institution. The CAF have more than 140 general/flag officers and nearly 1,000 positions in the public affairs organization, yet still find it impossible to gin up a uniformed spokesperson with supporting staff to regularly provide timely information, context and background to the Canadian public. In the face of very real security challenges and the scourge of disinformation, this most recent unacceptable lapse of public communications judgement should demand some responsibility and accountability, and some immediate corrective effort by the CDS and her leadership team, by the Minister of National Defence, and the Prime Minister.

A pattern of cover-ups and secrecy by the Carney Liberals. First, Canadians learned through media questions that an Iranian missile strike hit a base in Kuwait where Canadian Forces were stationed. The government said nothing until it was exposed more than 11 days later. As if it were an excuse, Prime Minister Carney said yesterday when pressed, "Well, I'm not the only spokesperson for the government." And now we learn 60+ Canadian soldiers suffered frostbite during Arctic training, and the Liberals tried to cover that up too, misleading Canadians about the number and severity of injuries. Our troops deserve a government that tells Canadians the truth and has their backs. Instead, this Liberal government covers up and hides, hoping nobody will notice. Mark Carney must take responsibility, do his job, and be upfront with Canadians.

@RotaryVictoria @MLB120012 @junonewscom @CherylR09307747 Yup, was there at their birth, but @ScottTaymun was the brains and pen. Remarkably sound, but 2026 isn’t 1998, much has changed. That most of that series has not, is microcosm of how sclerotic is the functional authority and senior leadership toward their comms responsibilities.

@WHMTE @MLB120012 @junonewscom @CherylR09307747 Here is the entire document. The basics remain viable. Does need an update regarding social media and the difference between public affairs and communication operations. canada.ca/en/department-…

BREAKING REPORTER: "If this attack happened [in Kuwait on March 1], why didn't you inform Canadians before?" PM CARNEY: "Well, I'm not the only spokesperson for the government, but, I'll confirm... the members of the Canadian Forces are all safe and sound."

@RotaryVictoria @MLB120012 @junonewscom @CherylR09307747 Right DAOD, just wrong section. Extant version is the original, from 1998 and like most of them, needs a refresh.

@WHMTE @MLB120012 @junonewscom @CherylR09307747 It appears to be lost at the top. Public Affairs is a Command responsibility. DAOD 2008 is clear.

@stphnmaher torontosun.com/news/national/…

If we are going to put half a trillion dollars into DND in the next decade, DND needs to communicate with Canadians more effectively. The failure to disclose an attack on Canadians in Kuwait should be a scandal.

@NationalDefence @CanadianForces @CJOC_COIC As @WHMTE has written for @CAGlobalAffairs this is part of a longer trend. cgai.ca/fixing_strateg… cgai.ca/the_rise_and_f…

@edhollett @stphnmaher cgai.ca/the_rise_and_f…

@stphnmaher The real issue here is DND public affairs. This secrecy is symptomatic of a chronic failure over years. @WHMTE is knowledgeable on this.

It shouldn't take investigative journalists to reveal this

@jamesbezan A fair response by him. At last count, more than 900 positions in the DND public affairs functional authority. There is a BG PAO, 3 Col-level PAOs, a Company’s worth of senior officer PAOs and 140+ GOFOs - but NOT ONE uniform can be spared to regularly brief the public? Shame!

I was very disappointed to hear Mark Carney’s shrugging of responsibility for keeping Canadians informed about the health of Canadian Armed Forces personnel in the Middle East. To say ‘I'm not the only spokesperson for the government’ is an admission of his failure, which includes failing to keep Parliament and Canadians informed. The previous Conservative government provided regular technical briefings to Parliamentarians and media with respect to OPERATION IMPACT in 2014 and 2015.

@MLB120012 @junonewscom @CherylR09307747 Quite a fair response. At last count, more than 900 positions in the DND public affairs functional authority. There is a BG PAO, three Col-level PAOs, a Company’s worth of senior officer PAOs and 140+ GOFOs - but NOT ONE uniform can be spared to regularly brief the public? Shame!

@junonewscom @CherylR09307747 Carney has a serious issue taking responsibility for anything. Always someone else’s fault. So pathetic.

@MLB120012 @globalnews @steffanwatkins The real issue in external comms specifically, is: the public affairs functional authority at DND is on life support; senior CAF leadership are unwilling/unable to provide appropriate direction to them to ‘do better’; and, made worse by insufficient PCO oversight and guidance.

@globalnews @steffanwatkins Carney wants absolute control over the narrative, and we’ve witnessed first-hand in recent weeks that’s he’s incredibly incompetent when making a public comment. His massive ego is clearly becoming a problem.

Conservative defence critic James Bezan said Ottawa has been "way too secretive" about the war while allies hold daily briefings. globalnews.ca/news/11728266/…