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Tom Saras, president of the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada, organized an ethnic media round table session with the Chief of Canada's Naval Staff Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson. The meeting took place April 28 on the HMCS Halifax, a frigate that had put to port at Pier 291, located at the foot of Toronto's Sherbourne St. The round table was held in the wardroom. The Vice-Admiral spoke in reference to matters Baltic as well.
"I guess my one comment would be about the degree that contributions of all countries to the NATO effort makes a difference. All countries bring some capabilities and we need them all. The strengths of a variety of countries complement the strengths of what Canada has. We do not have a significant mine countermeasure capability in the Canadian navy. European navies have retained that capability, and I know certainly Baltic countries, given the fact there are still mines off the coast in the Baltic that have to be dealt with, that are left over from previous wars, so those capabilities are certainly useful to the alliance," said Admiral Robertson.
"The alliance has been a constant of my career, and of course predates my career by decades. This ship has served under the NATO flag repeatedly in the past fifteen years of her life and capabilities that are built through NATO exercises whether they be in the Mediterranean or this side of the Atlantic or up in the Baltic are used by NATO all nations. It builds the interoperability there that is the basis of interoperability anywhere we would go," commented Admiral Robertson.
"We actually have about thirty members of the navy, in naval uniform, serving in Afghanistan in a variety of roles. There are members of this ship's company presently serving in Kandahar. One is a member of the provincial reconstruction team, that's one of the ships officers and another is a hull technician who is using his skills as a welder to weld new armour on to some of the army vehicles," added Admiral Robertson.
One of the other events that morning was the swearing-in ceremony of eleven new recruits on the helicopter deck. None of them were Estonians.
