Operational Success
1. Introduction
Complexity and the lengthening of chains of interdependent agencies make coordination necessary, while complex problems demand interoperable delivery systems to achieve goals or execute policies that are too big for one organization to handle. (Alexander, 1993, p. 18)
The 2010 Olympic Winter Games was Canada’s largest national security undertaking in recent history. It involved a variety of traditional security and non-traditional components ranging from police officers to parliamentary ministers. The complex nature of the security challenges required the Government of Canada (GoC) to make use of an approach that was (a) previously untested and (b) was otherwise unfamiliar. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how a Whole of Government Approach (WGA) to security operations was implemented by the GoC for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games (Olympics). This paper will:
1. Define the WGA and analyze why it is needed in security operations
2. Examine whether the WGA was a foreign concept for the GoC
3. Review the conceptual framework of other countries that the GoC looked to when it was developing its strategic framework
4. Review the key policies, legislations, Memoranda of Understandings (MOUs), and international agreements created to allow a WGA, and
5. Determine whether the WGA was successful at the Olympics
Although a WGA involves all three levels of security operations (strategic, operational, and tactical), this paper will only focus on the strategic level.
2. Time for Change
In response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 (9/11), the GoC conducted a sweeping review of Canada’s national security apparatus. This review was entitled Securing An Open Society: Canada’s National Security Policy and it resulted in the restructuring of the government through the first Canadian National Security Policy. The review recognized that “the lack of integration in [the existing system was] a key gap” and that “the evolving nature of
Complexity and the lengthening of chains of interdependent agencies make coordination necessary, while complex problems demand interoperable delivery systems to achieve goals or execute policies that are too big for one organization to handle. (Alexander, 1993, p. 18)
The 2010 Olympic Winter Games was Canada’s largest national security undertaking in recent history. It involved a variety of traditional security and non-traditional components ranging from police officers to parliamentary ministers. The complex nature of the security challenges required the Government of Canada (GoC) to make use of an approach that was (a) previously untested and (b) was otherwise unfamiliar. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how a Whole of Government Approach (WGA) to security operations was implemented by the GoC for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games (Olympics). This paper will:
1. Define the WGA and analyze why it is needed in security operations
2. Examine whether the WGA was a foreign concept for the GoC
3. Review the conceptual framework of other countries that the GoC looked to when it was developing its strategic framework
4. Review the key policies, legislations, Memoranda of Understandings (MOUs), and international agreements created to allow a WGA, and
5. Determine whether the WGA was successful at the Olympics
Although a WGA involves all three levels of security operations (strategic, operational, and tactical), this paper will only focus on the strategic level.
2. Time for Change
In response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 (9/11), the GoC conducted a sweeping review of Canada’s national security apparatus. This review was entitled Securing An Open Society: Canada’s National Security Policy and it resulted in the restructuring of the government through the first Canadian National Security Policy. The review recognized that “the lack of integration in [the existing system was] a key gap” and that “the evolving nature of