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National Defence, in a statement to this newspaper, noted the technology demonstration day was for innovators, science evaluators and program representatives. “Public affairs is not involved,” it added.In a May 3, 2021 email to senior military public affairs staff, including Brig.-Gen. Rick Perreault and then Brig. Gen. Jay Janzen, it was pointed out that the public affairs branch was a driving force with defence scientists and researchers behind many of the social media monitoring projects.
Three firms provided solutions. Allison noted that the new technology could be adopted across the federal government or in a particular sector. “This is an excellent opportunity to gain SA on cutting edge technology,” he added. Data was also compiled on peaceful Black Lives Matter gatherings and BLM leaders, again supposedly to aid military commanders helping co-ordinate work in long-term care homes.
The new public affairs strategy would have seen staff move from traditional government methods of communicating with the public to a more aggressive methods of using information warfare and influence tactics on Canadians. Included among those tactics was the use of friendly defence analysts and retired generals to push military PR messages and to criticize on social media those who raised questions about military spending and lack of accountability.
Janzen who was leading the initiative — later described as weaponizing public affairs — said at the time the military was “on the leading edge, and we were exploring uncharted territory. Innovation is sometimes prone to being misunderstood.”It is unclear why National Defence officials tried to mislead this newspaper with its false claim public affairs branch was not involved in the technology initiatives.