Gordon O'Connor

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, that is typical bafflegab. Successive Liberal governments have failed to protect our sovereignty in the north--

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the government took two weeks to dispatch the DART to Sri Lanka on rented commercial aircraft. This delay was caused by a combination of political dithering and lack of airlift capability. The Canadian Forces do not have the capability to move the DART rapidly and will have to continue to depend upon unreliable commercial airlift availability for years to come.

Why have successive Liberal governments been so negligent in addressing this fundamental requirement of the Canadian Forces?

[National Defence, February 4th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, he was a training officer for the Victoria, too.

The DND Portage la Prairie flight contract project, which has a potential value of $1 billion, has been tied up in the bidding process for 18 months. During that time the two bidders, Bombardier and Allied Wings, have had to extend their bid price three times. It has been reported that the contract award recommendation has been approved and the budget financing is in place, yet no public announcement has been made.

Given that the current Bombardier contract terminates soon, why is there a delay in awarding the new contract?

[National Defence, February 4th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the submarine acquisition was technically flawed. Now we have learned that the submarine training was also flawed.

A former submarine commander and training officer recently confirmed that to meet U.K. contract obligations, corners were cut in training standards both on shore and at sea.

The minister has led us to believe that all crew members were properly trained, yet we have the former training officer for submarines saying otherwise. Who should Canadians believe?

[Finance, February 1st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Macleod.

If the tragic events in Asia prove anything about our military capacity, it is that Canada's must be boosted immediately. The Conservative Party wants to see a firm commitment on the 5,000 frontline troops financed immediately in the budget. The Conservative Party wants to see the heavy lift capability of our forces put in place. No longer should we be waiting to rent aircraft from others to meet our commitments.

There are five elements needed for an effective military force: clear policy; appropriate personnel levels; effective training; proper and well-maintained equipment; and infrastructure. These five elements must progress together, otherwise the result is a less effective or ineffective military.

Canadians are still waiting for the new policy from the government and so are the armed forces. Until the policy is approved and the necessary funding is in place, the department will continue to spin from one crisis to another.

Canadians are being led to believe through leaks in the press that the new policy will be forthcoming soon and that the Liberals will embark on another 10 year plan like the one for health care, only this one will be for the military. This is reminiscent of other political regimes whose five year economic plans went nowhere except to keep bureaucracy busy and confuse the people.

Similarly, if the rumoured modest funding increases for defence are accurate, then the Liberals' plan will lead to a downward spiral of force capabilities. Meanwhile their public relations machine will try to make Canadians believe quite the opposite. It is almost certain that every answer to every problem will be the mantra “it is in the 10 year plan”.

A 10 year plan is a cop-out to avoid government responsibilities and tough decisions. The government does not want to commit the funds needed to restore the military and it is hoping that the public will forget the promises in the mists of time.

Through leaks to the media we have been informed that the government will commit about $3 billion extra to defence over the next four to five years. This amounts to an average baseline increase of $600 million to $750 million per year. This is far too little to stop the ongoing decay of the forces and the Prime Minister, the finance minister and the defence minister know it.

The previous Liberal government cut $20 billion in purchasing power from DND while the current Prime Minister was the finance minister and vice-president of the Treasury Board. The Prime Minister has never cared about or fought for defence. His track record is of one who provides the military with lots of rhetoric but minimum funding. His neglect of the military and its needs continues.

Currently Canada spends about 1.2% of GDP on defence, which is far below the NATO European average of 2%. This is true even with the recent claims of the government that it has committed $7 billion for future equipment.

According to the strategic capability investment plan, otherwise known as the SCIP, the current defence department needs a capital investment of $27.5 billion in equipment over the next 15 years. This means that the government has only approved about 20% of what the department needs.

The Australians, who have a smaller population and economy than ours, have committed to financing a $50 billion capital plan over a 10 year period. They know that diplomacy and aid must be backed up by an effective military to ensure that pious words turn into deeds.

As a G-8 country and a NATO country, we have allowed our military capabilities to wither. When the Prime Minister, the foreign affairs minister or the defence minister go to international meetings, I am surprised that they do not hang their heads in shame.

If the department stays on its current and predicted course, the present force structure of air, land and sea combat elements cannot be maintained at their current size and shape.

The Conservative supply day motion of October 21 last year put pressure on the government to ensure that the 5,000 troops promised during the election campaign would be combat capable. We are pleased that the minister has recently said that the new troops will be added to existing units, not a one dimensional peacekeeping brigade.

Although the government has expressed an intention to add 5,000 regulars and 3,000 reserves to the military, the recruits will have to be processed through the constipated Canadian Forces recruiting and training system. Currently about 10,000 regulars are tied up in the system where the normal numbers should be between 4,000 and 5,000. The extra 5,000 that are lost in the training system are there essentially because the current regular force effective strength of 53,000 is not large enough to provide the required personnel levels to both the operational and the training units.

The forces are in a classic catch-22 situation. Because there are not enough instructors, the forces cannot maintain sufficient personnel to fill under strength units. In turn, under strength units cannot afford to send their experienced personnel to be instructors in the training system. Many regular recruits are lost in the system for up to 18 months. Similar problems are faced by the reserves who are also processed through the same system.

The situation is serious enough that the Auditor General is starting an investigation of the Canadian Forces recruiting and training system. Unfortunately it will take 18 months until Canadians see her report.

We in the Conservative Party are hoping that the military will find a way to process the needed 5,000 regulars and 3,000 reserves without losing them for extended periods in the system. The Conservative Party also believes that absorbing the increase at only 1,000 per year is not an adequate goal for the department. What would the government do if there was an international crisis requiring dramatic increases? It is just not acceptable.

As mentioned earlier, revitalizing the military involves more than just increasing personnel. Every person who is a member of the Canadian Forces uses equipment in one form or another. If 8,000 people are going to be added, then substantial equipment must be added or restored to operational condition. The current effort to re-equip the forces is woefully inadequate leading to rust-out in all environments. As equipment is operated beyond its predictable life, maintenance costs start to balloon because many more spare parts are required and much more technician time is needed.

A classic example is the 40-year-old Sea King fleet which requires 30 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight. Beyond the challenging costs of maintenance, the risk of safety of the crews increases each year. It will take another four to eight years before new helicopters appear, a delay caused by the political interference by the previous prime minister and the inaction of the current one. Hopefully the forces will get through this period without any serious incidents.

Another example is the army's 2,500 logistic trucks which are literally rusting out. According to an internal analysis, starting in 2008 hundreds of trucks will have to be scrapped each year because they have reached the point where they cannot be repaired for safe operation. As the army loses hundreds of trucks each year, the operational part of the army will quickly reach the point where it cannot carry out its tasks because it cannot move its supplies.

The failure to recapitalize is dramatically demonstrated in what has happened to the air force during the Liberals' time in office. In 1994 the air force had about 700 aircraft with an availability rate of 85%. This means that nearly 575 aircraft were available to fly on any one day. Today the air force has about 300 aircraft with an availability rate of 50% so that only 150 can fly in any one day. The air force has gone from a performance level of 575 aircraft to about 150, a huge drop in capability.

The Liberals' long term under financing in the military really hit home with the public during the horrific disaster in Asia. For years the government has touted the disaster assistance response team, or DART, as something Canada could dispatch within 48 hours. The deployment of the DART to Sri Lanka was delayed for two weeks as it had to be done commercially with available Antonov aircraft rather than our own transport fleet.

It is the state of the current air transport fleet that has caused the problem. It is very old and it is overcommitted. On any one day about one-third of the Hercules fleet of 32 aircraft is committed to search and rescue, leaving about 20 to 22 aircraft available for airlift, but because of their advanced age the availability rate is only 50%. In any one day only 10 or 11 Hercules are available for tasking. The DART we are told by the defence department requires 24 to 26 Hercules flights to lift the manpower and equipment. The available Hercules fleet would have had to travel to Asia and back three times to deliver the humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka. Meanwhile the forces would not have any other lift available to meet other demands.

If the Liberal government is going to increase the regulars by 5,000 and the reserves by 3,000, it will also have to look at our challenge in infrastructure, which has a bow wave of demands. When DND constructs buildings or other structures, it plans that these buildings will last for 50 years. On that basis about 2% of replacement value must be spent each year for upkeep and replacement of infrastructure. This level of support has never been achieved. As a result a large number of base buildings and married quarters are in very bad shape. To properly implement the planned personnel increases, the government must provide the military with additional funding for infrastructure.

During the last election the Liberals painted members of our party as warmongers because we advocated increased spending on the military. Ironically, an analysis of our defence proposals by DND military planners just prior to the election showed that our proposals were feasible, affordable and achievable, quite the opposite of the false propaganda perpetrated by the government.

[Question No. 43, January 31st, 2005]

Further to correspondence dated August 31, 2004, with the Minister of National Defence concerning the property of Mr. Ronald Mayhew, which sits adjacent to the Dwyer Hill Training Centre: ( a ) is it the intention of the Department of National Defence (DND) to acquire this land and, if not, will they restore Mr. Mayhew’s land to its original state and compensate him for his lost business; or ( b ) if DND does want the land, will they provide Mr. Mayhew with an equivalent acreage in the same general area or purchase it at fair market value and compensate him for his lost business?

[Natural Disasters, January 31st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the government by its recent actions has proven that our military does not have sufficient airlift to transport the DART.

Today we are informed that the government intends to establish a DART plus. This is more political puffery. If the Canadian Forces cannot move the current DART, they will not be able to move the DART plus. This is typical of the Liberals who consistently make promises they cannot deliver.

Will the minister explain how the government will meet a bigger humanitarian commitment when the Canadian Forces cannot transport the current one?

[Natural Disasters, January 31st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, in 1996 the Liberal government proudly boasted that the disaster assistance response team would be available for dispatch within 48 hours.

On December 26 one of the worst natural disasters in history occurred in Southeast Asia requiring immediate humanitarian assistance. Yet the Liberal government dithered for nearly two weeks deciding whether or not to dispatch the DART, eventually sending it in rented aircraft.

Will the minister explain why the government delayed its decision when help was so desperately needed?

[National Defence, December 7th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election the government said it would increase the military without having any idea how it could be done, how it would be used and how it would be funded. This weekend the Prime Minister told CNN, “We are going to be increasing our troop level substantially, both our regulars and reserves. We are in the process of getting that underway”. Yet the number two in the military said it just is not so. Who are we to believe?

[National Defence, December 7th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, as part of an election ploy, the Prime Minister and the Liberal Party promised to add 5,000 regulars and 3,000 reserves to the military. A few weeks ago the chief of defence staff said it would take the department five to six years to recruit the soldiers. Yesterday the vice chief reconfirmed this embarrassing timeframe and said that the military simply does not have the money to recruit, train, equip and house the soldiers.

Is the government prepared to break another election promise, or will it provide the funds needed to recruit the soldiers now?