Minister of National Defence
Three questions: the plan under paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Emergency Management Act for nuclear attack, whether the risk is entered, which instrument.
The letter ·
Your Department will not say whether a plan required by subsection 6(1) of the Emergency Management Act exists
Hello,
On 3 February 2026 the Government answered the former Chief of the Defence Staff. General (Ret'd) Wayne Eyre had said in Ottawa the day before that Canada will never have true strategic independence absent its own nuclear deterrent. The answer given for the Government was that there is no intention of departing from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and no interest in nuclear weapons.
On 17 September 2026 the Department of National Defence answered 3 requests under the Access to Information Act. Files A-2026-01143, A-2026-01144 and A-2026-01154. The 3 letters carry identical operative text:
"We regret to advise you that this Department neither confirms nor denies records exist pursuant to section 10(2) of the Access to Information Act. If the documentation did exist, it would be exempted in its entirety pursuant to section 15(1) of the Access to Information Act."
Those 3 requests hold 14 numbered items. One of them asks for the emergency management plan in respect of nuclear attack on Canada. Subsection 6(1) of the Emergency Management Act makes the preparation of such plans the responsibility of each minister accountable to Parliament for a government institution, and paragraph 6(2)(d) names the case of war or other armed conflict. Another item asks which instrument records an obligation of any state to defend Canada against nuclear attack, and accepts in the alternative a record stating that no such instrument exists. A third asks about the nuclear certification status of aircraft Canada is acquiring, a matter the United States announced publicly in March 2024.
The Department has not said that the records do not exist. It has declined to say whether they exist at all.
Complaints on all 3 files are with the Information Commissioner. The question below is separate, and it belongs to the Minister rather than to an access office.
1. Does a plan prepared under paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Emergency Management Act in respect of nuclear attack on Canada exist.
2. Has nuclear attack on Canada been identified as a risk under subsection 6(1).
3. Which instrument records an obligation of any state to defend Canada against nuclear attack.A brief on this question is before the Standing Committee on National Defence, filed on 29 August 2026, and written testimony is before the Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs. A bill is drafted. The answer given, or the absence of one, goes into the public register with the date.
Respectfully,
Danilo Dzyuban
No answer by 4 Oct