Harjit Sajjan will be in Washington Monday to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis
NATO, Norad and the fight against ISIS up for discussion
Canada's Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan will travel to Washington, D.C., on Monday to meet with new U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis.
Sajjan will have a formal meeting followed by a working dinner in which the pair are set to discuss a number of issues including the Norad partnership, the two countries' commitment to NATO and the mission to defeat ISIS, says a statement released by the Department of National Defence.
- RCAF facing challenge of operating old and new fighter fleets at same time
- Canada 'looking at all options' for improving support to Ukraine, Sajjan says
The pair already spoke on the phone on Jan. 23, when Mattis made Sajjan the first defence counterpart he reached out to after being confirmed in his new post on Jan. 20.
Both men have served in the military. Mattis has a four-decade career of service that began with enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve when he was 18.
According to his U.S. Department of Defence biography, Mattis has held a number of high-profile leadership positions in the military, including commanding U.S. Joint Forces Command, NATO's Supreme Allied Command for Transformation, and U.S. Central Command.
Sajjan was formerly a detective for the Vancouver police gang crime unit and a combat veteran in the Forces. He served one tour in Bosnia and was deployed three times to Afghanistan.
He was the first Sikh to command a Canadian army reserve regiment — the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own).