Minister Joly and Secretary Fuhr are heading to Sweden!

ISED Canada has now confirmed what has been rumored for a few days now. The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions and the Honourable Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement) will be heading to Sweden on Monday to meet with their respective counterparts.

This was rumored the last few days but we're only getting confirmation now. While there the two will meet with Ebba Busch, Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Business and Industry and Pål Jonson, Sweden’s Minister for Defence.

This is Fuhrs first major trip out of country since becoming Secretary of State for Defence Procurement. He has been keeping it fairly close to home with a focus on touring around ahead of the Defence Industrial Policy dropping this October.

While I dont think anything major will be announced here, it is of interest to see this trip come at a pivotal moment ahead of everything. It certainly peaks me as something to keep an eye out for, just in case.

The lack of Mcguinty here makes me think there won't be anything overtly major, but you never know. Joly and Fuhr being here certainly points to a defence industry focus for this trip, especially with with DIP releasing in two months.

I don't think this is fighter review related. Nor do I think we will get a AEW announcement. However, I do think its likely we see some wonderful, always important MOU brought up. Thats always a favourite of these kinds of trips.

Some people think I'm anti-Sweden. I am not. I think theres plenty of room to cooperate between our countries, and Sweden tends to be fairly open to that kind of cooperation. While many people inevitably look to Gripen and Globaleye I think it ignores a lot of what Sweden has to offer us.

Think things like RBS70, Giraffe radar, ARTHUR, unmanned systems cooperation. I also think there's room to expand on the relationship that comoanies like Saab have with Bombardier. I fully expect to see them get the rub in all of this. Joly amd Fuhr are big on the Aerospace industry it seems, so natural cooperation in that sector makes sense, especially when Bombardier is, again, already an active player.

Its an interesting thing to think about, and im hoping we get to hear what was discussed during these talks. Certainly I will be contacting ISED either way to get the run down on whats going on! There is no media availability for me to attend, and again I am fully expecting nothing to come from this at this time.

Between this and the Danish delegation it very much feels like theres a ‘Nordic’ mindset going on right now. The Liberal government previously promised to build a new ‘Economic and Security’ partnership with our Nordic allies. So im happy to see them seemingly taken this by the horns.

Theres lot of room for cooperation, and plenty of avenues where we can mutually benefit from each other. Its an area I would like to see Canada take a more pronounced role, for example, joining the United Kingdom in promoting the Type 26 to Norways current Frigate competition or working with partners on expanding cooperation with common platforms like the P8 or F35.

Stuff like that might seem minor but it goes a long way to building the relationship and pushing for more comprehensive cooperation. You need to start somewhere, and I'm happy to see some of that beginning work starting to take shape.