DEFENCE REVIEW 2016
Defence Review 2016 is underway and marks the first time in over 20 years that the public is being consulted on matters of the Canadian Defence industry. Opportunities to participate in consultations have been determined, and the WCDIA has been granted the opportunity to host one on July 6 and 7, 2016 in Calgary, Alberta.
As our national association, CADSI, has already presented their position and provided comments to be included in the review, WCDIA members and participants now have the fantastic opportunity to leverage the hard work done in Ottawa and over 2 days in July, present and prepare “The Voice of the West”.
The Defence Review must encompass the issues of the day from all regions and all sub sectors of the industry, this is why the WCDIA is so encouraged to be bringing together the companies and issues that differentiate us regionally. As the voice and participation of the Small and Medium enterprise in Western Canada is equally important, WCDIA is hosting a series of workshops in parallel to ensure awareness, understanding and opportunity for SME’s in the Aerospace, Defence and Security markets.
Both groups will have the opportunity to come together in an evening of networking as well as the B2B events.
VOICE OF THE WEST FORMAT
WCDIA's response and contribution to the Defence Review is called the Voice of the West.
The first part is a short series of three meetings held in Calgary with “thought leaders” from within the industry as well as well-known local contributors to the defence dialogue in Canada. During these meetings we will create a framework and process for the review and get participants together in groups to refine key parts of the framework into a series of short presentations that will be used later on.
The second part of Voice of the West is a series of panel sessions on 6 and 7 July in Calgary. Because of the timeliness of the review and its proximity with our yearly conference, we are postponing WestDef and will instead be hosting this one-time special event in its place. During the panel sessions we discuss and fine tune our response into a series of comments, observations and recommendations, which will then forwarded directly to the Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Harjit Singh Sajjan, PC, for incorporation into the Defence Review.
This two part Voice of the West is a unique opportunity for our members. Individually our voices are lost in the crowd or discounted as self-serving, however as an industry association our united concerns are heard and heavily weighted.
In concert with the Voice of the West sessions, we are simultaneously holding B2B sessions and a series of Small and Medium Enterprise events designed to improve their participation in future defence contracts as well as to provide valuable information on new export opportunities around the world.
