Debates of May 17th, 2007

National Defence—Main Estimates 2007-08

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, our government did not choose Kandahar province to be the area of operations. The Liberal government chose Kandahar province and Kandahar province is among the most violent provinces in Afghanistan.

Therefore, when we went in there with our troops, we had to make sure that our troops were equipped and trained to deal with the insurgency. They have been doing an excellent job. They are the best troops in the world. We can ask anybody. They have been doing their job there.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Yes, Mr. Chair, and the Canadian army still has the highest rate of injury and death among those three nations. I am wondering if this is part of his success in operations.

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, I think members will notice this year that the much announced Taliban spring offensive is not happening in Kandahar province. The reason it is not happening in Kandahar province is that our troops are doing their job because they are keeping the Taliban under control.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Mr. Chair, under the new detainee monitoring agreement, what plans has the minister activated to ensure that sufficient resources and sufficient personnel are available for the regular monitoring that this agreement envisages?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, the defence department is not responsible for the monitoring of detainees. The defence department is responsible, once they have a person of interest in custody as a detainee, to process them properly in accordance with the rules of war and to hand them on to the Afghan authorities.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chair, with regard to Afghanistan and the detainees, having been in Afghanistan last year, I first of all want to salute the good work that our troops do. Because I am concerned about our troops, as is everyone on this side, I want to ask the following questions.

At any time in the past month has the minister raised the issue of mistreatment of detainees with his counterparts at NATO? Could he be specific?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, when I had a meeting in Quebec City of the ministers from the south, who were all involved in serious operations with the Taliban, we discussed the various ways that they are handling detainees.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chair, this is obviously not just a Canadian issue. Can the minister tell me what thought, if any, has gone into a NATO-wide solution to this issue of the detainees?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

I think, Mr. Chair, the member will have to ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs. That is within his realm, not mine.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chair, I hope that the minister does talk to the foreign affairs minister and, in that case, shed some light on this particular issue.

Has any thought been given to establishing a NATO-wide detention facility so that we can deal with all of the detainees and ensure they are not tortured or mistreated by Afghan authorities?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am not aware at this time of such a proposal. I know that NATO headquarters is investigating some of these claims of abuse. I do not know what the outcome of that will be, but I am not aware of such a proposal.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Unfortunately, Mr. Chair, I do not think that answer sits very well. Could the minister again respond with regard to the issue of an overall approach to the detainee issue? Obviously Canada is not alone in dealing with this type of issue.

Have any constructive or useful comments been made by the minister's counterparts with regard to how to deal with this? Obviously the question in mind that I would like to go to is with regard to the Geneva convention and its application to the Canadian Forces in the field.

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, my previous answer may not have made the member happy, but it is the answer. The foreign affairs minister is responsible for the area of detainees and the member will have to talk to him.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Minister, what is your understanding of the Geneva convention and its application to detainees by Canadian Forces in the field?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, my understanding is that legally the detainees are not entitled to Geneva convention treatment, but Canada decided that we would treat them in accordance with the Geneva convention.

[The Deputy Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

I would like to caution the hon. member for Richmond Hill to address his questions through the Chair, in the third person, to the minister.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chair, does the minister believe that detainees and those who have been proven to be Taliban are entitled to the Geneva convention given the fact that other allies do?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, our government does. The previous government did. I am saying legally they do not necessarily have an entitlement because they are not combatants in the sense of a war.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chair, minister, have you ever requested from JAG or the justice department a full--

[The Deputy Chair, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

The hon. member for Richmond Hill, does the minister--

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chair, has the minister requested from JAG or the justice department a full legal analysis of the possible exposure of our Canadian Forces to any kind of action under international law as a result of allegations of torture taking place in Afghan facilities?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, as I said previously, I have never been made aware of any specific case of abuse or torture. I must note that our forces over there treat detainees with the highest standards of the rules of war. In fact, our people have received accolades from the human rights organization and the Red Cross.

In fact, for the last few weeks there have been aspersions cast on the Canadian Forces that somehow they have been involved in or tolerated abuse. This is totally untrue.

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chair, a question for the minister, I have not and our side has never cast aspersions about the actions of our soldiers in the field.

[An hon. member]

About the government.

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

You had better check Hansard.