WRITER PROFILE
Ken Pole is currently the longest-serving continuous active member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery. A staff writer and desk editor with The Canadian Press in several bureaus across the country before moving to newspapers, he has been a freelance journalist since 1979, writing extensively on a range of military issues as while maintaining a keen interest in all aspects of civil fixed-wing and rotorcraft aviation. He is an avid sailor, diver and photographer as well as an aspiring guitarist.
Articles by this writer
A new paper from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute explores the financial cost of war using links between taxation and defence spending and drawing on data from 100 countries, including Ukraine. It offers evidence to understand how increases in military spending may affect tax structures, but also how low-income, autocratic and conflict-affected countries fund their military spending.
Canada’s international reputation in question as Cameron Ortis, former head of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Coordination Centre, is again free on bail pending his trial on security violations in late 2023.
A 34-year-old Ontario resident and three Americans have been charged in the U.S. with conspiracy to provide financial support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
With cybersecurity experts saying "the internet’s on fire", the federal government is warning all organizations to be on guard against a “critical internet vulnerability” that could be exploited by organized crime. A number of government departments took some services offline over the weekend to assess the threat posed by software used by an estimated two-thirds of web servers worldwide.
The explicit reasons for the eventual dismissal of Drs. Qiu and Cheng from the National Microbiology Laboratory were immediately shrouded in secrecy. Was it legitimate or was it an ignorant reaction during a pandemic? The executive suite revolving door at PHAC in recent years may be contributing to the lack of transparency.
The political and now legal pipeline scrap between Enbridge and the government of Michigan has exposed the vulnerability of much of Eastern Canada’s economy.
The Speech from the Throne signals that the new minority Liberal government is prepared to stay the course on the defence, security and foreign policies it committed to in the previous Parliament. Read the full text and some context here.
According to David McGuinty, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians’ 2019 activities will assess enforcement and admin of immigration and customs laws and privacy issues.
The defence portion of the 2019 federal Budget includes renewing the Government's Middle East Strategy, and the security portion suggests changes to the business model of the Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA).
The defence portion of the 2019 federal Budget includes commitments to spend $1.39 billion (over the next two years) for renewing its Middle East Strategy, and up to $105.6 million (over three years) in continued support for Ukraine, while also stepping up Canada’s cyber security efforts.
Public Safety Minister Goodale says Canadians captured while fighting alongside terrorist groups in Syria will have to assume responsibility for their own decisions.
A new U.S. report indicates that the effects of climate change should be considered an issue of national security with potential impacts on DoD missions and military installations around the world over the next two decades.
The Government of Canada is ramping up efforts to ensure that neither the coming election campaign, nor the vote itself, are influenced by malicious, net-based interference.
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Ralph Goodale remains unconvinced that the US border with Canada merits more attention than it currently gets.
NATO has established defensive battle groups in the three Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) to protect them from potential Russian advances. How is Canada helping this effort?
Cybersecurity is expected to be featured prominently in the first annual report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.
Fully operational by mid-August, the Canadian task force is fully involved in logistical support, ferrying UN soldiers around the country in Chinook and Griffon helicopters for “presence projection” missions.
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has been set up by the government as a single point of authority for combatting cyber crime.
While the Government Accountability Office notes that the DOD faces “new challenges as adversaries try to steal national security information and technology at unprecedented rate, ” the White House eliminated its Senior Cyber Policy Office.
During a press conference on Parliament Hill today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg answered questions about cyber security and Northern defence.
The global surge in cyber crime – related to both national and personal security – has prompted the federal government to unveil plans for a National Cyber Security Strategy.
The PM has reaffirmed that Canada will continue to push for one of the temporary seats on the United Nations Security Council when it becomes open in four years.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has confirmed that the RCMP and CSIS are investigating a report that cell phone use around Parliament Hill is being snooped on through their unique subscriber identify module or simcard.
Richard Fadden, who announced his retirement last week after nearly 40 years of public service, told CBC Radio's As It Happens that while ISIS does not pose an "existential" threat to Canada, it is accomplishing its prime objective of breeding terror.
The U.S. National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS), managed by the Department of Homeland Security, is only partly successful in detecting and preventing intrusions at federal agencies, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
There’s a body of opinion which holds that retired military officers should eschew politics, that lending their names and/or ranks to a political campaign is a form of prostitution, and that using their experience and leadership skills in the civilian world is somehow "wrong".
FrontLine Staff Writer Ken Pole looks at the latest in simulators and their role in training our officers in situations that they may not otherwise experience and examine how they react.
FrontLine Staff Writer Ken Pole looks at the latest in simulators and their role in training our officers in situations that they may not otherwise experience and examine how they react.
A quick lesson on how to direct an unwanted competition. Transparency is clearly a matter of perspective.
Examining cooperation between the European Union and Canada.
Transport Canada will now require major railway companies to provide detailed information on their cargoes – but the reports will only cover what has been previously shipped. Municipalities and first responders will still have no idea what's about to come through their town.
Though well-recognized as vital in the public safety and security sector, interoperable communications remain a constant challenge.
Authorities at all levels, as well as utilities and major manufacturers, have been trying to figure out how to handle the inevitable next major ice storm.
