Anand Says She Has No Data to Determine Origin or Purpose of Flying Objects Downed in Yukon, Lake Huron

Gen. Wayne Eyre, chief of the Defence Staff, looks at his notes as he prepares to appear as a witness at the Standing Committee on National Defence, regarding the surveillance balloon from China, along with Minister of National Defence Anita Anand (R) in Ottawa on March 7, 2023. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Defence Minister Anita Anand said there is no data on three aerial objects downed last month over North America, shortly after a Chinese spy balloon was found intruding in Canadian and U.S. air spaces, to determine whether they are related to any foreign states.

Anand was questioned by MPs at the Standing Committee on National Defence on March 7 about the Chinese surveillance balloon and the three subsequent objects downed by the U.S. military between Feb. 10 and Feb. 12.

“Is it a plausible hypothesis that China used this type of balloon to try and see how Canada and U.S. and NORAD [North American Aerospace Defense Command] would react and where there are gaps?” asked Bloc Québécois MP Christine Normandin.

Anand replied that she is “not in the business of hypothesizing prior to having data.”

“The reality is we don’t have the data from the downed balloon off the coast of the United States, and we don’t have data from the three other incidents. And so at this point, it would be imprudent for me to speculate on the purpose and the origins of those other three balloons,” she said.

The sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recovering a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Feb. 5, 2023. U.S. Navy via AP

Some debris from the first Chinese spy balloon has been recovered by U.S. authorities after it was downed off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Feb. 4. The three other objects, including one that was downed over Yukon, have not yet been retrieved.

“As you know, the recovery efforts were curtailed because of remote and rugged terrain,” Anand said.

“There is no indication that they are state-affiliated, but the recovery efforts were curtailed and any other available information that is obtained would be shared, of course.”

Anand didn’t give a direct answer when Conservative MP and national defence critic James Bezan asked whether reserve troops, rangers, or full-time members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) would embark on a search for the objects in spring, and instead cited the importance of safety and security of CAF members.