Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you, colleagues. It's a great honour to be in your midst for the first time in my capacity as Minister for National Defence. As I said on my very first day in this post, there is no greater privilege and honour than to serve with our men and women in uniform. I come from a long history of military service in my own family, including my own father who was a jet fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, so this position is the highest honour and privilege of my life, to be honest.
I look forward to working with all of you who I know share my commitment and dedication to the Canadian Armed Forces and their critically important mission.
I'm delighted to be joined here by my associate minister, Julian Fantino; as well as senior associate deputy minister, Bill Jones; our chief financial officer, Claude Rochette; acting vice-chief, Major-General John Madower; and the chief of the Communications Security Establishment, Greta Bossenmaier.
As I said, this is my first time before you, and before I begin my statement on the supplementary estimates, colleagues, let me reiterate our shared condolences to the family of Sergeant Andrew Doiron, who I met yesterday at the ramp repatriation ceremony with His Excellency the Governor General at CFB Trenton. I know that all of our thoughts are with him and his comrades.
I was so impressed to see a large squad of his comrades from the Canadian Special Operations Regiment and JTF2 attending the ramp ceremony and expressing their ongoing determination to serve Canada, including their support for our mission against ISIL in Iraq.
Looking back, Mr. Chair, 2014 will prove to have been a pivotal year for domestic and international security. We saw, of course, Russia's brazen de facto invasion of Ukraine; the spread of the terrorist death cult known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the Middle East; and of course the murders of two members of the Canadian Armed Forces right here at home.
We see growing international instability, which is becoming a growing threat both to Canadians and to Canadian interests abroad. It is incumbent upon us to play our part when it comes to contributing to international peace and security. Doing so often means deployed operations, which by their very nature incur incremental costs.
It's in this context that I come before you today.
In the supplementary estimates (C), the Department of National Defence is requesting an additional $142.3 million in spending authorities. Of this amount, $138.1 million will cover additional costs for overseas operations, the bulk of which, $122.6 million, to be precise, is dedicated to Operation Impact. That is our contribution to the multinational coalition against ISIL in the Republic of Iraq.
Operation Impact consists of approximately 600 personnel, six CF-18 fighters, one CC-150 Polaris aerial refueller, and two CP-140 Aurora reconnaissance aircraft. This newly modernized equipment is doing tremendous work with the coalition. We also have members of our special operations forces, as I just mentioned, advising and assisting local forces, particularly the Kurdish peshmerga in the Erbil region of the Kurdish part of northern Iraq.
The majority of the costs identified under Op Impact—approximately $73.6 million—are for aircraft and ammunition costs. This includes fuel, operation and maintenance, spare parts, ammunition and in-service support.
The assets covered in this cost also include the deployed aircraft I mentioned a moment ago, as well as the C-17 Globemaster and the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft that are sustaining the mission. This number also includes $8.8 million in personnel costs, such as certain allowances granted to deployed members, including hardship and risk allowances. Other personnel-related costs, such as incidentals and ground transportation for personnel transiting to and from theatre, total $2.2 million.
Meals and accommodation costs for personnel while in theatre total $34.2 million.
Moreover, other costs, such as camp set-up fees, the re-supply of general consumable material, and other miscellaneous amenities and local purchases total $3.3 million.
Mr. Chair, I can tell the committee that the coalition against ISIL is having a real impact. Where last year ISIL roamed unfettered, gaining more territory day by day, they can no longer do so. They can no longer move in large-scale troop movements. They are no longer gaining territory in Iraq. They are, instead, losing territory there. Air strikes are having a demonstrable impact upon their command and control capabilities, as well as removing key equipment and personnel from the battlefield. When they do go on the offensive—that is to say, when ISIL does—they take significant losses.
We have reports that they are moving increasing amounts of their armoured equipment and heavy equipment from Iraq into Syria in order to move them away from the allied air campaign.
As you know, the most recent news is that “An Iraqi security force mission against ISIL in Tikrit has apparently been successful in pushing them back and ISIL is on the retreat. This is all good news, but yet more needs to be done.”
Mr. Chair, the department is also requesting $17 million in incremental costs for Operation Reassurance. That is our contribution to NATO assurance measures in central and eastern Europe, to send a clear message to Vladimir Putin that we stand with our NATO allies against his intimidation of the sovereign nations of central and eastern Europe that are our NATO allies.
This op's impact includes military activities such as Baltic air policing—four Canadian Hornets have been involved in those activities—infantry ground training exercises, of course, and the presence, currently, of the HMCS Fredericton in the Black Sea.
Mr. Chair, in addition to funding for the two major operations currently underway, you will see that the supplementary estimates also include provisions for several other areas.
We are requesting $3 million for the Canadian Armed Forces advertising campaign, to ensure our recruiting targets are met and our military is well placed to fulfill its missions in Canada and around the world.
I just want to add a little point here. We often hear parliamentarians gross up every dollar spent by the Government of Canada on advertising and characterize it as partisan.
Mr. Chair, every single government in modern Canada has had a budget for Canadian Armed Forces advertising for recruitment purposes. It's an essential part of our recruitment strategy, and that of every other modern military.
I would ask members, if they want to be intellectually honest about this, to reflect the fact that this is normal CAF recruitment advertising, not what is mis-characterized as partisan or political advertising.
Also, $1.75 million will go towards site remediation work, as the department takes our responsibilities as property holders and environmental stewards very seriously.
I would note that the estimates also include $2.5 million in transfers to other organizations: $1.39 million to Shared Services Canada for costs associated with access to rapid and secure satellite communications; and $461,000 to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council to support joint research grant projects.
If approved, these funds would raise National Defence's total spending authorities to over $20 billion this fiscal year, an increase from just over $19.9 billion in supplementary estimates (B). Just to give this some context, it would be an increase from the forces budget in 2005, which was then a little over $14 billion; so a 27% increase in the past nine years.
These estimates demonstrate the government's steadfast commitment to ensuring that the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces will always have the equipment and resources they need to get the job done that we have asked of them.
Mr. Chairman, I look forward to any questions you may have. I believe Minister Fantino may have his own remarks.
I'm sorry for speaking so quickly to the translators, but I'm trying to respect your time.