Why didn’t we hear about the Chinese weather balloon when it was over Canada?
Ghislaine Deshaies Mercier
Flying machines are the talk of the town these days. On Friday, the United States shot down one over Alaska. On Saturday, it was Canada’s turn to shoot one down over the Yukon.
These events show that Canada is active in managing these threats. But in the very first event involving a Chinese ball, which occurred early last week, there is a perception that Canada has lagged behind the United States. The public was made aware of the craft’s presence after it left Canadian airspace. This may give the impression that the Canadian authorities never detected the spy balloon and that they learned of its existence after the fact, thanks to the Americans.
What we know of the affair shows rather that Canada was involved from the very beginning.
The US military claims to have detected the Chinese balloon on January 28 as it flew over the Aleutian Islands, which belongs to Alaska.
The defense of North American airspace is carried out by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a Canadian-American military organization.
In a press conference given on February 6, General Glen VanHerck, Commander of NORAD, was asked by a journalist why the balloon had not been immediately shot down as it flew over the Aleutian Islands.
The general replied that he could not make that decision because the balloon showed no “hostile intent”. He then said this:
“For the rest, I kept the department informed [de la Défense américain] and the Government of Canada – as [commandant du] NORAD, I also have a boss in Canada. »
“My boss is General Wayne Eyre, Chief of the Defense Staff on the Canadian side. I can assure you that General Eyre has been kept informed,” said Commander VanHerck.
The balloon then left Alaska to fly over the Northwest Territories, Alberta and Saskatchewan before re-entering US airspace on January 31.
Its existence was announced on 1er February by the United States. The Canadian Department of Defense issued a press release the next day on the same subject.
“Canada and the United States have jointly decided to make the balloon’s presence public at an appropriate time, while taking operational security into account,” a Canadian National Defense spokeswoman told us.
“We have to find a balance and make sure that we don’t compromise in any way our operations and the techniques that we use to protect Canadians,” Canada’s Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told the CTV network, explaining the initial silence from Canadian authorities.
This shows that Canada was actively involved in managing this intrusion of North American airspace.
The balloon was eventually shot down by a US Army fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina, a place where falling debris posed less of a risk. Last Thursday, the US government claimed the probe was fitted with surveillance equipment. According to the Pentagon, similar balloons have been sent by China over several locations around the globe in recent years to gather information about military bases.