‘Secret’ drone installation to be built at Uplands, federal records reveal

Originally envisioned as a 4,000-square-metre building, it will now be around 6,000 square metres, records show.

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Published Apr 23, 2024 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 4 minute read

Canada will be receiving 11 new Sky Guardian drones as part of a $2.5 billion project. Photo by General Atomics image /HANDOUT

Uplands will be the site for a new $65-million military facility to control the Royal Canadian Air Force’s drone fleet.

The Ottawa installation, to be ready by 2028, will be around 6,000 square metres in size. It will be home to almost 200 military personnel whose job will be to operate and control a new fleet of drones flying from military bases in British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

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The Canadian Forces and National Defence originally claimed in an April 8 statement to this newspaper that the location in Ottawa for the new building was secret for security reasons.

But that information was false. National Defence outlined details about the Uplands location in publicly available documents that are online. The department also held public consultations on the Uplands location as part of its environmental assessment for the site, government documents show.

The publicly available records outline the construction of the building as well as a parking lot for employees who will work at the Uplands site.

The documents indicate that the proposed size of the facility has increased. It was originally envisioned as a 4,000-square-metre building, according to the records, but will now be around 6,000 square metres.

After the publication of an article quoting defence officials claiming the location of the drone installation was secret, military personnel contacted this newspaper with details and links to the publicly available documents. They alleged the Canadian Forces and National Defence were deliberately trying to provide false information to the newspaper.

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The initial response with false information was approved by the office of Troy Crosby, Assistant Deputy Minister for Materiel, and the RCAF, commanded by Lt. Gen. Eric Kenny.

Asked why the department and military falsely claimed the drone site was secret when it wasn’t, National Defence noted in a statement that, “when a request is received from the media, the department tries to provide a comprehensive and transparent response.

“The development of departmental media responses requires consultations and approvals from subject matter experts at various levels within different areas of DND/CAF to ensure we give accurate answers to the media,” the statement added. “This process was followed in the development of the (drone) related query responses.”

The new building will house six stations to control the drones and two simulators to support operations. It will accommodate 198 personnel.

The Liberal government announced on Dec. 19 that Canada would buy 11 of the remotely piloted aircraft from a U.S. company for $2.5 billion.

The new drones will be stationed at 14 Wing Greenwood, N.S., and 19 Wing Comox, B.C.

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The military personnel who contacted this newspaper to point out the RCAF’s bogus secrecy claim also noted that even the locations of Canada’s most sensitive defence organizations weren’t secret. The Joint Task Force Two counter-terrorism unit, and the electronic spy organization, the Communications Security Establishment, operate from Ottawa locations that are openly acknowledged by the federal government and Canadian military.

Design work is underway for the drone facility and a contract for the modified design-build project was tendered and awarded to Bird Construction in May 2023.

A federal contract award site also lists another firm as receiving in the last week a $112,000 contract for consulting services for the drone facility.

National Defence could not say when construction of the installation would start. In an emailed statement, the department noted it expected the facility to be complete in 2028.

Critics have pointed out the military and National Defence are sliding towards more secrecy even as the federal government frees up billions of dollars in additional spending.

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The secrecy problem has become so bad that the House of Commons Committee on National Defence has launched hearings into the lack of openness and transparency.

So far it has heard that National Defence violates federal law in almost 40 per cent of the requests it receives to produce records under the Access to Information Act.

The committee has also heard the department continues to withhold a wide range of records, including documents on shipbuilding and fighter jets requested by a Conservative MP in 2017 and 2018 as well as files needed by military sexual assault survivors for legal purposes.

In addition, some former soldiers have complained they face uphill battles to get the military to release documents needed for medical-benefits claims.

In January, this newspaper reported National Defence brought in a new and unprecedented shroud of secrecy around a controversial warship project estimated to cost taxpayers more than $80 billion. The department withheld records about the Canadian Surface Combatant for almost three years; when they were released under the access law, all cost figures were censored from the documents.

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The level of secrecy has also been extended to what used to be run-of-the mill records. Just days after Canada’s top soldier publicly advocated for more openness on defence issues, his office refused to release a copy of that speech.

Instead, the office of Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre suggested that, if this newspaper wanted a copy of the speech he made in public on March 7, it would have to submit a request under the Access to Information law.

Eyre’s office also declined to explain why it was refusing to release a written copy of the speech made at an Ottawa defence conference. Previously, the Canadian Forces would not only provide transcripts of such speeches, but would also post them online. A copy of the speech by Defence Minister Bill Blair at the same conference on the same day has been posted on a federal government website.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, including exclusive content for subscribers only, sign up here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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