Episode 320 – Will Canada’s true north finally be strong…and free?
Canada proudly proclaims that it is the ‘Great White North’, a reference to our long border with the Arctic (and sometimes interminable winters – like this one!). But does it really treat the region as a national security priority (it did during the Cold War). With global warming opening up previously ice-bound sea lanes and rising international tension, the Canadian government finally seems to be putting its wallet where it’s mouth is – or is it? I speak with a specialist on the Arctic.
About my guest
Arctic security talks need more focus on intelligence, say some analysts | CBC News
Carney news: $35B put towards Arctic defence, North
Rob Huebert is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Calgary. He also is the Director of the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies. He was appointed as a member to the Canadian Polar Commission (now renamed Canada Polar Knowledge) for a term lasting from 2010 to 2015. He is senior fellow with the MacDonald Laurier Institute (MLI), a fellow with the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies, a
research fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, and a senior fellow with the
Conference of Defence Associations Institute. He was co-editor of Canada and the Changing Arctic:
Sovereignty, Security and Stewardship; Commercial Satellite Imagery and United Nations
Peacekeeping and Breaking Ice: Canadian Integrated Ocean Management in the Canadian
North. He also comments on Canadian security and Arctic issues in both the Canadian and
international media.
NB I erroneously referred to Dr. Huebert as ‘Ron’ on two occasions: my sincere apologies!
Spotify link
Substack link
Canadian Intelligence Eh
In a world of multiple voices and opinions it can be very hard to know where to turn. One choice is to look to those who actually worked in counter-terrorism and other threat areas in the national security world.
In these half-hour podcasts, 32-year Canadian intelligence veteran Phil Gurski is joined by a fascinating array of individuals with something meaningful to say about these issues as they provide insight into what they mean and what we need to do about them.
About Phil Gurski
Phil worked as a senior strategic analyst at CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) from 2001-2015, specializing in violent Islamist-inspired homegrown terrorism and radicalisation. From 1983 to 2001 he was employed as a senior multilingual analyst at Communications Security Establishment (CSE – Canada’s signals intelligence agency), specialising in the Middle East. He also served as senior special advisor in the National Security Directorate at Public Safety Canada from 2013, focusing on community outreach and training on radicalisation to violence, until his retirement from the civil service in May 2015, and as consultant for the Ontario Provincial Police’s Anti-Terrorism Section (PATS) from May to October 2015. He also ran Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting from May 2015 to May 2025.
He was the Director of Security and Intelligence at the SecDev Group from June 2018 to July 2019 and the Director of the National Security Programme at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute from 2020-2022. He has also taught on national security issues at George Brown College, the University of Ottawa and Georgian College. Mr. Gurski has presented on violent Islamist-inspired and other forms of terrorism and radicalisation across Canada and around the world and is actively sought by Canadian and international media on national security and intelligence issues. He has written hundreds of op-eds on these matters for several Canadian media since 2016
He is the author of The Threat from Within: Recognizing Al Qaeda-inspired Radicalization and Terrorism in the West (Rowman and Littlefield 2015) Western Foreign Fighters: The Threat to Homeland and International Security (Rowman and Littlefield 2017), The Lesser Jihads: Taking the Islamist fight to the world (Rowman and Littlefield 2017), An end to the ‘War on Terrorism (Rowman and Littlefield 2018), When Religion Kills: How Extremist Justify Violence Through Faith (Lynne Rienner 2019), The Peaceable Kingdom? A history of terrorism in Canada from Confederation to the present (self-published: 2021, republished by Double Dagger in 2022), and the forthcoming The Fenians: Brotherhood of fools or Canada’s first terrorist threat? (Double Dagger: 2025). He regularly blogs and podcasts (Canadian Intelligence Eh!), and posts on Bluesky (@borealissaves.bsky.social) on terrorism and intelligence matters.
