Canadian Defence and Security Network - Réseau Canadien Sur La Défense et la Sécurité
249 episodes
6 days ago
Welcome to a new episode of Battle Rhythm, with co-host Anessa L. Kimball, Ph.D., Professor at Université Laval; Steve Saideman and Anessa discuss defense spending eagerness in Ottawa and beyond along with Canada and ASEAN and two apologies, one from Prime Minister Mark Carney and another from the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jennie Carignan on behalf of the Canadian Armed Forces for Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment of current and past current and former CAF members. In today’s Feature Interview, Steve discusses Navy procurement and recruitment strategies with Canada’s Naval Commander.
Vice-Admiral (VAdm) Angus Topshee is the 38th Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). His diverse academic background includes military and civilian institutions on three continents. He has deployed in ships around the world and has accumulated countless sea stories involving pirates, sharks, terrorists, volcanoes, whales, fires, and all the other things which make life at sea a true adventure. The highlight of his time at sea was his far too brief command of Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Algonquin in 2009-2010 and, a close second, his three years in command of Canada’s Pacific Fleet. His shore postings include two tours in the Navy’s Strategy directorate as penance for all of his sea time, three years in command of Canadian Forces Base Halifax, and two years as the Deputy Director, Strategy, Policy, and Plans at NORAD and United States Northern Command Headquarters in Colorado Springs. He also deployed to Afghanistan for all of 2011 as the director of Afghan National Police Training within the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan. Over the course of his career, he has somehow been involved in Arctic issues at every one of his shore postings (except Afghanistan). Before taking command of the RCN in May 2022, VAdm Topshee had the honour and the pleasure of commanding Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific, located in Esquimalt, B.C. VAdm Topshee’s career is enabled by his fantastically supportive wife, Audrey, and four tremendous daughters, Amy, Zoë, Charlotte, and Iris.
All content for CDSN Podcast Network is the property of Canadian Defence and Security Network - Réseau Canadien Sur La Défense et la Sécurité and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Welcome to a new episode of Battle Rhythm, with co-host Anessa L. Kimball, Ph.D., Professor at Université Laval; Steve Saideman and Anessa discuss defense spending eagerness in Ottawa and beyond along with Canada and ASEAN and two apologies, one from Prime Minister Mark Carney and another from the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jennie Carignan on behalf of the Canadian Armed Forces for Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment of current and past current and former CAF members. In today’s Feature Interview, Steve discusses Navy procurement and recruitment strategies with Canada’s Naval Commander.
Vice-Admiral (VAdm) Angus Topshee is the 38th Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). His diverse academic background includes military and civilian institutions on three continents. He has deployed in ships around the world and has accumulated countless sea stories involving pirates, sharks, terrorists, volcanoes, whales, fires, and all the other things which make life at sea a true adventure. The highlight of his time at sea was his far too brief command of Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Algonquin in 2009-2010 and, a close second, his three years in command of Canada’s Pacific Fleet. His shore postings include two tours in the Navy’s Strategy directorate as penance for all of his sea time, three years in command of Canadian Forces Base Halifax, and two years as the Deputy Director, Strategy, Policy, and Plans at NORAD and United States Northern Command Headquarters in Colorado Springs. He also deployed to Afghanistan for all of 2011 as the director of Afghan National Police Training within the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan. Over the course of his career, he has somehow been involved in Arctic issues at every one of his shore postings (except Afghanistan). Before taking command of the RCN in May 2022, VAdm Topshee had the honour and the pleasure of commanding Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific, located in Esquimalt, B.C. VAdm Topshee’s career is enabled by his fantastically supportive wife, Audrey, and four tremendous daughters, Amy, Zoë, Charlotte, and Iris.
Episode 4.2: The Purge with Honourary Colonel Michelle Douglas, 33rd Vimy Award Laureate
CDSN Podcast Network
1 hour 13 minutes 30 seconds
1 month ago
Episode 4.2: The Purge with Honourary Colonel Michelle Douglas, 33rd Vimy Award Laureate
Welcome to autumn and to a new season of Battle Rhythm, with co-host Thomas Hughes, Assistant Professor at Mount Allison University. Steve and Thomas discuss the US Department of War/Defence’s public GOFO lecture, National Guard deployments and Thomas reports on the reactions in Belgium as drones fly over NATO Airspace, finally what are we learning from all of this when it comes to theory? (A: the Huntingtonian model is out)
Today’s feature interview is with Michelle Douglas, Michelle is a veteran, a former military officer, a survivor of Canada’s “LGBT Purge” and an activist in the movement to seek legal equality for the 2SLGBTQ+ community over the past 30 years. She is a bridge-builder.
Michelle served as an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces from 1986 to 1989. Despite a distinguished service record, she was honorably discharged after being deemed “Not Advantageously Employable Due to Homosexuality.”
After being fired by the military, Michelle’s landmark legal challenge in 1992 ended Canada’s formalized discriminatory policy against LGBT members of the military.
This experience launched a decades-long commitment to volunteerism and activism for Michelle. She has been a part of many legal challenges to seek equality for the 2SLGBTQI+ community.
Professionally, Michelle had a 30-year career in public service. She retired from the federal Department of Justice in 2019 where she held the position of Director of International Relations. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the LGBT Purge Fund.
Michelle is a member of the board of directors of the Michaëlle Jean Foundation. She was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and was presented with the Canada Pride Citation in 2023. She was recently named an Honorary Colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces; she is assigned to the organization known as the Chief Professional Conduct and Culture. Michelle is a graduate of Carleton University.
CDSN Podcast Network
Welcome to a new episode of Battle Rhythm, with co-host Anessa L. Kimball, Ph.D., Professor at Université Laval; Steve Saideman and Anessa discuss defense spending eagerness in Ottawa and beyond along with Canada and ASEAN and two apologies, one from Prime Minister Mark Carney and another from the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jennie Carignan on behalf of the Canadian Armed Forces for Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment of current and past current and former CAF members. In today’s Feature Interview, Steve discusses Navy procurement and recruitment strategies with Canada’s Naval Commander.
Vice-Admiral (VAdm) Angus Topshee is the 38th Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). His diverse academic background includes military and civilian institutions on three continents. He has deployed in ships around the world and has accumulated countless sea stories involving pirates, sharks, terrorists, volcanoes, whales, fires, and all the other things which make life at sea a true adventure. The highlight of his time at sea was his far too brief command of Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Algonquin in 2009-2010 and, a close second, his three years in command of Canada’s Pacific Fleet. His shore postings include two tours in the Navy’s Strategy directorate as penance for all of his sea time, three years in command of Canadian Forces Base Halifax, and two years as the Deputy Director, Strategy, Policy, and Plans at NORAD and United States Northern Command Headquarters in Colorado Springs. He also deployed to Afghanistan for all of 2011 as the director of Afghan National Police Training within the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan. Over the course of his career, he has somehow been involved in Arctic issues at every one of his shore postings (except Afghanistan). Before taking command of the RCN in May 2022, VAdm Topshee had the honour and the pleasure of commanding Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific, located in Esquimalt, B.C. VAdm Topshee’s career is enabled by his fantastically supportive wife, Audrey, and four tremendous daughters, Amy, Zoë, Charlotte, and Iris.
