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As far as blue-skying ideas and chasing dreams, this would be enormous.
While the federal government has proposed Halifax as its location, that hasn’t dissuaded the province from tossing Calgary’s hat into the ring
As far as blue-skying ideas and chasing dreams, this would be enormous.
Alberta has big aspirations to become a growing aviation hub in Canada. Calgary has big aspirations to fix its downtown.
Now, the provincial government is setting its sights on pitching downtown Calgary as the home to a new regional office of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“Yes, that NATO,” Jobs and Economy Minister Brian Jean told a Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday.
“They are looking to set up a Canadian headquarters for a defence innovation accelerator, that would have hundreds of defence officials working with industry on technological problems in the defence sector.
“We wrote a long and detailed letter about why that project should be based in downtown Calgary — several buildings, hundreds of employees.”
Earlier this month, Premier Danielle Smith, Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish and Jean sent the letter to a senior official with NATO in Brussels.
They’re proposing that Calgary become the regional headquarters for NATO’s new Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) offices in North America.
In 2021, NATO members agreed to establish the accelerator, which aims to promote greater co-operation between tech firms, military operators and academic researchers.
Last June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signalled Canada wants to host the North American office for the program. Defence Minister Anita Anand announced in November that the government proposed Halifax as the location.
The Canadian government describes the accelerator as a body that will create a “network of innovation sites” in North America and Europe, co-ordinated by an office in Canada and an office jointly based in Estonia and the United Kingdom.
The accelerator is expected to focus on work surrounding disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, big-data processing, and quantum-enabled tech.
Federal officials said Thursday they expect a confirmatory decision regarding Halifax from NATO in the coming months.
However, Ottawa’s pronouncement hasn’t dissuaded the province from tossing Calgary’s hat into the ring.
The city has an emerging aviation sector and is already home to plane manufacturer De Havilland Aircraft of Canada.
Alberta has non-stop flights that connect to major European cities, is home to four military bases and has about 16,000 people employed at more than 500 companies in the aerospace and defence industries, the letter states.
While the province is aware the federal government nominated Halifax for the regional office, “we notice that NATO has yet to accept this proposal,” it said, indicating Calgary could also become a secondary headquarters in North America.
“The government of Alberta is willing to enter into discussions with NATO and the Canadian Armed Forces to support the location of the DIANA campus in Calgary’s downtown,” states the letter.
“The west end of downtown Calgary currently has millions of square feet of office space available for us. It is ideally situated, connected to existing capable infrastructure, and would allow NATO to hit the ground running once a decision has been made.”
With the emergence of the city’s tech industry and a strengthening presence of the aviation sector, Calgary Economic Development CEO Brad Parry is encouraged by the outreach to NATO.
The city has aerospace and defence companies operating with local offices — such as Arcfield Canada, General Dynamics, Raytheon Technologies, and Lockheed Martin CDL Systems — and there are post-secondary aviation training programs in Calgary.
“It’s a natural fit, to be honest with you, when you look at the types of companies being built here and grown here,” he said.
“Having that accelerator here would make total sense.”
Yet, given that Ottawa has made its selection, it seems unlikely another Canadian centre would be chosen by the international organization.
“It’s a very nice thought. But I think there’s zero chance of that happening,” said David Bercuson, director emeritus of the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, citing politics and the city’s distance from military bases in Cold Lake and Wainwright.
“I just don’t see any reason why people in the federal government would want to put it here . . . They (NATO) will put it where the feds want it to go.”
If the province wants to rejuvenate the downtown, there are more immediate ways to help out, such as providing funding to post-secondary institutions looking to relocate faculties into the area.
Jean, a former Conservative MP, acknowledged Ottawa’s voice will play a large part in NATO’s decision, but believes Calgary’s strengths will also be considered.
He’s not giving up.
“They’ve identified Calgary as an opportunity and that’s why we sent the letter out. And we believe that NATO sees Calgary as a better opportunity than Halifax right now,” he told reporters after the speech.
“They haven’t started building in Halifax, so I don’t think it’s too late.”
Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.
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