Defence Minister to Attend 11th Conference of Defence Ministers of the Americas - Canada to head discussions on military health

News Release

The Honourable Rob Nicholson, Minister of National Defence, will attend the eleventh biennial Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas (CDMA), which is being hosted this year in Arequipa, Peru from October 12-14.

This Conference brings together defence ministers and senior officials from the Americas to discuss common regional defence and security issues.

While attending the CDMA, Minister Nicholson will be conducting a series of bi-lateral meetings with his counterparts from other hemispheric nations.

Quick Facts

The first CDMA was held in 1995. It was created to provide a forum for defence and security ministers to share ideas and experiences on contemporary regional defence and security issues. The CDMA has emerged as an important means to promote security and stability in the hemisphere. Canada hosted the eighth CDMA in Banff in 2008.

This year, Canada was selected as ‘rapporteur’ for the working group on military health and, in this capacity, has prepared a presentation to other attending countries on this important topic. This will provide Canada with an opportunity to showcase its military health service system and share our experiences and expertise in this area with the representatives from other countries.

Canada promotes and participates in a number of multilateral hemispheric defence forums, where we are engaged with many Latin American and Caribbean countries.

These include: the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas (CDMA); the Inter-American Naval Conference (IANC); the Conference of the Armies of the Americas (CAA); the System for Co-operation among the Air Forces of the Americas (SICOFAA); and the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB).

Quotes

“I’m eager to work with my counterparts across the Americas at this important Conference to strengthen our hemispheric defence institutions. Canada has a long history of active engagement and cooperation with our regional partners in the Americas and we’re looking forward to building upon the achievements of this conference.”

Honourable Rob Nicholson, PC, QC, MP for Niagara Falls and Minister of National Defence