Rapid Deployment

"When a crisis suddenly erupts, usually most embassies have one consular officer. Whether there is a hurricane or civil war, that one consular officer is very poorly equipped to deal with all that has to be dealt with.
"Having a sort of flying squad of consular personnel makes eminent good sense to me."
Louis Delvoie, fellow, Centre for International and Defense Policy, Queen's University

"A cyber attack that blocks access to IT systems or interrupts communications could also threaten the safety of Canadian officials and place Canadian commercial, consular or passport clients at risk. The range and severity of cyber threats is increasing."
DFATD (Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development) report on cybersecurity

It was a recognition of necessity whose time had come. One that evolved as a result of the crisis relating to the 2006 conflict in the Israel-Lebanon clash resulting in the evacuation of 30,000 Lebanese Canadians. Canada responding to the plight of people caught stranded in a conflict situation, despite the ensuing criticism that many of those 'rescued' were citizens in name only, holding Canadian passports, living by choice in Lebanon.

But the event pointed out a need for an effective, efficient and skilled emergency team response. The government of Canada has since dispatched a special crisis team to help its staff at the Boston consulate when the Boston Marathon bombing took place. The new, low-profile Standing Rapid Deployment Team is never still. After Boston, the team flew out to Nairobi to give aid to the Canadian High Commission with their security, consular and logistics during the siege in September.

That was an incident that took the life of a Canadian diplomat, and another Canadian as well. Other teams were flown out to Peru after a bus crash in which Canadians were involved. Team members are in place in the Philippines to help the embassy's work in reaching Canadian citizens in the fallout of Typhoon Haiyan's deadly landfall. Complementary to the work of the Canadian DART team bringing humanitarian aid to the devastated country.

The implementation this year of such a rapid deployment team attached to DFATD was long in coming, and a requirement in the world of today in which a rapid succession of events, man-made atrocities and representing natural disasters with a wide swath of destruction, all requiring emergency responses. Canada is not alone in this initiative requiring a rapid response to terrorist threats and environmental disasters.

In response to the Libyan Benghazi consulate attack by Islamist jihadists that killed four Americans, the United States formed their own, military version of rapid response Marines units. Britain has formed rapid deployment teams to respond in aid to their embassies and emergency situations embroiling their citizens abroad; theirs closer to the Canadian model.

Skills in emergency management, consular services, security, logistics and policy are those that stand out in the personnel selected to become part of the new rapid response groups who are "on official standby around the world and prepared to be deployed within hours of being notified". Training is ongoing, with "highly realistic" teaching scenarios based on crisis situations and required responses.

Foreign affairs' networks as well are subjected to daily cyber attacks; the risk of high-value security data falling into hostile hands is real enough. Sensitive data relating to foreign policy goes through the Internet and the network used throughout the network by DFATD every minute of every day, worldwide. There are 170 Canadian missions abroad sending messages back to Canada and to many of its allies.

The report to Parliament mentioned in particular cyber security as a key risk requiring close scrutiny; loss of sensitive information "could have significant negative consequences for Canada".