Evidence of meeting #14 for National Defence in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was afghanistan.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5 p.m.
Conservative
5 p.m.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In light of the importance of the matter, I called an emergency meeting of the NDP caucus on this committee, and we've concluded that we can support the amendment to make it every two weeks.
5 p.m.
NDP
5 p.m.
Conservative
5 p.m.
NDP
5 p.m.
An hon. member
Are you a caucus of one?
5 p.m.
An hon. member
So there's quorum.
5 p.m.
Conservative
5 p.m.
Conservative
Russ Hiebert Conservative South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all, I think we all recognize that the department has been doing an outstanding job of providing us with information. I refer to the witness we had just today, Major-General Benjamin. And previous generals and members of the department have been briefing us on a regular basis, so I don't think there's actually a shortage of information. We're also getting information from the media, as Mr. Bachand indicated. I would call to question whether it is in fact the case that such a shortage is actually present.
I also agree with my colleagues, both on my side and on the other side, that weekly briefings are perhaps a bit excessive. I don't think this committee should expect the department to be providing information of a confidential nature, in light of the fact that there are few, if any, members of this committee with the top secret clearance that would be required to receive that information. So we have to keep in mind the level of expectation we have of the department.
I'm also not convinced that the mission is changing so rapidly that we would have dramatically new information on a weekly basis or even on a biweekly basis. I think expecting a more regular briefing would be in order, and I would support amending the motion to replace the word “weekly” with “regular”.
I guess, Mr. Clerk, that would be considered another subamendment.
I also want to draw to the committee's attention the fact that although the department and the government are at the behest of parliamentarians, at the same time, I don't want to put an unnecessary burden on our military, in light of the degree to which they are currently being stretched by this mission, as we have heard repeatedly.
Those are the comments that I would like to bring to this committee's attention.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rick Casson
So we now have a subamendment to change “weekly” to “regular”. I'll get a briefing on how to handle this in a second, but go ahead.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joe McGuire Liberal Egmont, PE
On a point of information, I wonder if the clerk or the researcher could maybe fill us in on how it was handled during the first Iraqi war. How often, and to what extent was that information confidential, and how different was it from a public briefing?
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
5:05 p.m.
Wolf Koerner Committee Researcher
If I can remember, I think it was about three times a week at one point. It was very regular. There was a briefing to the members of the foreign affairs and defence committees of the time. And then there was a daily press briefing where they simply repeated what they had already told parliamentarians.
Were the briefings very detailed? I would say no, they were the sorts of things one would pick up in the public domain.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
5:05 p.m.
Committee Researcher
Pretty much, yes. When I went and then listened to the press conference the story didn't change that much. It was all unclassified.
If you're thinking of getting classified briefings, that's not going to happen. That's an important thing to remember here.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rick Casson
Thanks for that comment. A little institutional history here.... Thanks, Wolf.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
I have just a little addition to the institutional history, having been there too. That was a war that was rapidly evolving. There were forces advancing. There was things changing almost every day. This isn't the same situation to the same extent that the Gulf War was at all.
