Article content

OTTAWA — The head of the Canadian military called out Russia and China on Wednesday for their “antagonistic actions” even as he revealed that work has begun on identifying the scope and price of upgrading North America’s defences, including the North American Aerospace Defence Command.

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance would not provide a timeline or other details on upgrading NORAD, but said they have to happen “relatively quickly” as the threat posed by Russia, China and others continues to grow.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Gen. Vance calls out Russia, China for 'antagonistic actions,' reveals NORAD defences upgrade being studied Back to video

Russia and China figured prominently during the first of an annual two-day defence conference organized by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute, in which numerous Canadian and allied military officers spoke before Vance provided the keynote speech.

Vance, who has served as this country’s top military officer for nearly five years, warned that Canada and its allies are currently engaged in a “global fight over values” that goes beyond the traditional domains of land, sea and air to include space, cyberspace and information.