National Defence Committee on Feb. 9th, 2012

Evidence of meeting #25 for National Defence in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was aircraft.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Maintaining the Readiness of the Canadian Forces

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Lieutenant-General Retired) Richard Evraire (Chairman, Conference of Defence Associations

Colonel Retired) Brian MacDonald (Senior Defence Analyst, Conference of Defence Associations

Steven Staples President, Rideau Institute

David Macdonald Senior Economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

1 p.m.

President, Rideau Institute

Steven Staples

If those are legitimate missions that meet the requirements and support of what Canadians want, yes, we should. Yes, we should be a part of those.

I regretted that we weren't part of the UN mission in the Congo when we were asked a few years ago. We could have made a really important contribution there.

Much has been made of the C-17 capability. I was reluctant to make that acquisition, but we have the planes now. The UN is crying out for the kind of logistical capability that I think Canada could contribute internationally.

I'm not an isolationist. I think we need to make a contribution internationally to those right missions.

1 p.m.

Conservative

Ben Lobb Conservative Huron—Bruce, ON

So it's safe to say, then, you're not going to be on Ron Paul's campaign team. That's safe to say.

I'll just take a little bit of a turn here. What is your view on funding with CIDA? Should it be increased or decreased? Also, what is your viewpoint on funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs? Do you think it should be increased or decreased?

1:05 p.m.

President, Rideau Institute

Steven Staples

Absolutely our veterans need to be taken care of. We owe it to them. That's an important obligation that has to be met.

In terms of CIDA, I've been very—

1:05 p.m.

Conservative

Ben Lobb Conservative Huron—Bruce, ON

Do you think funding should be increased or decreased at Veterans Affairs? Given your position with national defence spending, is it up or down?

1:05 p.m.

President, Rideau Institute

Steven Staples

It's a different line item. It needs to meet whatever those requirements are. I haven't specifically looked to see whether the Department of Veterans Affairs is meeting its requirements, although I am very sensitive to the voices of those veterans who say they haven't been getting the kind of help they need. So I think that is important.

In terms of CIDA, I like David Cameron's analysis on Afghanistan. Had we done the foreign aid in the right place at the right time, we could have avoided a lot of big costs and saved a lot of lives. I wonder what we're missing today that we could prevent in the future.

1:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Bezan

Thank you. Time has expired. We are also out of time for our meeting.

Mr. Staples, Mr. Macdonald, thanks for your input and for joining us on our study on readiness. We'll take your testimony into consideration as we draft our report.

With that, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

Okay, we're out of here.