National Defence Committee on May 13th, 2015

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

I take it from that that you played no role whatsoever in providing confidence in the public—

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Military commanders have told me from the beginning that they accept all the recommendations in principle, so I didn't feel any reason to intervene in that regard.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

So you've not intervened at all.

One of the other questions that about the report was the concern that Madame Deschamps expressed about her mandate and the limitations on the scope of the report, which, of course, the military determined prior to engaging Madame Deschamps. The limitations relate to the military or criminal justice system, including any decision made to exercise discretion as to whether or not to investigate complaints, lay charges, proceed with charges, or prosecute charges, in other words, all of the actions and the conduct of military police and all of the actions that would involve a prosecution for sexual assault. Yet she indicates that the victims express concerns about how they would be treated by the military justice system, which has lead to their not reporting sexual assaults. Many who did report said that their experience was atrocious. She heard that assaults that do not result in physical injury tend to be ignored and that charges are often not laid in these cases.

That seems to be a very fundamental problem for women in particular, but not exclusively in the military, where the justice system appears not to be responsive to the complaints and to the situations that occur.

Sir, given that the military has only had jurisdiction to prosecute sexual assaults since 1998, would you be prepared to undertake or ask for a review of the operation of the miliary justice system with respect to sexual assaults?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

That item, as you just mentioned, Mr. Harris, was commented on by Madam Justice Deschamps in her report that is taken into consideration by the military in its response.

I would be happy to announce, Mr. Chair, that the government intends to bring forward amendments to the National Defence Act that would mirror in military law the victims bill of rights recently adopted by Parliament, and that would strengthen procedural rights for victims of sexual aggression in the Canadian military and other crimes. That, I believe, also will respond to the concerns raised by Mr. Harris.

[The Chair, Conservative, Peter Kent]

That's time, Mr. Harris.

Mr. Norlock, please, for seven minutes.

[Rick Norlock, Conservative, Northumberland—Quinte West, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and through you to the witnesses, thank you for being here today.

Minister Kenney, our government recently increased DND's escalator to 2%. In the coming years, that will increase to 3%. You've already indicated several areas in which this will impact DND and Canadian Forces long-term funding. I've always believed that politics are all local and that the people who pay their taxes that we're spending on our Canadian military need to know in practical terms what that means to the Canadian Armed Forces and to them.

You've mentioned, of course, that the budget keeps increasing—personnel, salaries, etc.—but what can they look forward to with these additional funds that they can be proud of in regard to what their government is doing for them?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

It will certainly allow us to maintain the personnel structure of the Canadian Armed Forces at a steady state, which is approximately 68,000 personnel in the regular forces and I believe 27,000 on the reserve side. It will ensure that we're able to maintain and continue to modernize infrastructure on their bases as well as the equipment they use.

But really what it means, I think, for managers and commanders in the military and the department, is stable, long-term, predictable funding that they can plan on. That's really critical if you're a base commander.

I know that you've been a fantastic representative for CFB Trenton in this Parliament, Mr. Norlock, and if you're commanding CFB Trenton and the many different wings that are operating out of there, the many different squads and functions, you need to know that two or three years from now you're going to be able to rebuild that military house or restore that equipment.

This gives you some degree of confidence that the funds will be there. I think that's what it is. I think there's a release of pressure, if you will, to some extent, for managers and commanders in the system in knowing that they will have adequate resources. Look, we're not talking about increasing the military budget by orders of magnitude, because obviously we all have to be careful about the expenditure of tax dollars, but I think it gives them a level of confidence in that they can actually plan on a reasonable horizon to maintain kit and morale in the forces.

[Rick Norlock, Conservative, Northumberland—Quinte West, ON]

Thank you for mentioning that. Having been in uniform for 30 years, I know how important it is to have the proper uniform and equipment to do your job.

When I asked about the practical implications, that development at CFB Trenton—which is currently in my riding and will be in the new Bay of Quinte riding—means more than just the $800-million-plus that we've spent on infrastructure at the base. What it means to the community, Minister, as I think you've reminded me of in the past, is that payments in lieu of taxes go to that municipality so they can complete their infrastructure and the municipality doesn't have to raise taxes on the local people. Those kinds of investments at our bases, etc., have a multiplier effect.

My next question would be for Minister Fantino.

Thank you for being here, Minister. The main estimates show that there is an increase of $16.1 million to the Communications Security Establishment to further support their mandate. Without getting into any details on specific operations, because I know there is confidentiality around that, can you explain why this is necessary to protect the interests of Canadians in this new day and age?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Vaughan, ON]

Thank you for that question.

Under its cybersecurity mandate, the CSC helps protect and secure Government of Canada and other important Canadian computer and information networks. CSC's role includes providing advice, guidance, and services to government departments on a wide range of security issues.

There's definitely an exponential increase in the need to escalate that protection because of the advances in technology, obviously, and also because of the use that is made of it and the malicious cyber-actors who operate in this kind of world. Indeed, it also includes the risk and the threat of terrorism. It's about trying to keep pace with all of the issues we're facing and trying to do the best we can, as well as to get ahead of these threats. It's a relatively small amount compared to the value in return.

[Rick Norlock, Conservative, Northumberland—Quinte West, ON]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Minister Kenney, another important element that we've been talking about, and it's substantive and once again relates to CFB Trenton and many other locations, is the Canadian Forces' search and rescue function. Can you comment on the current state of Canada's search and rescue equipment and any plans to replace and upgrade this equipment?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

In fact, I think you and I had just had a conversation about that recently, Mr. Norlock.

I first of all want to acknowledge some innovative trials that have been conducted by the Canadian Armed Forces, particularly the RCAF wings that are responsible for search and rescue, SAR. There's an old model where they would have what was called a 30-minute response posture. Very typically that would be between sort of 9 to 5 Monday to Friday, but beginning two to three years ago at CFB Trenton, the RCAF SAR wings began, I would say, a more intelligent readiness posture where they would stand up more resources to the 30-minute response posture during times when they more frequently get calls of distress; for example, weekends in the summer as opposed to weekdays in the winter. Now we intend to make that a general policy across all of the three SAR wings in the RCAF.

In addition to that I'm pleased to inform the committee that the Department of National Defence and Public Works have just issued a request for proposals for fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft. This has been one of those frustrating procurement files for a number of reasons going back more than a decade, but I'm pleased to say that we will now be receiving proposals on a replacement for the Buffalo fixed-wing SAR aircraft. This will allow us to modernize our equipment.

Of course the new maritime helicopters that we'll begin receiving in fact next month in Shearwater will also enhance our air SAR response capability.

[The Chair, Conservative, Peter Kent]

Thank you, Mr. Norlock.

Ms. Murray, please, for seven minutes.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The importance of the well-being of women and GBLTQ members of the military is utterly critical in a country like Canada, and it's been very distressing to find out how poorly the culture of the Canadian Armed Forces supports them. That's why I'm going to dig further into what's been going on with this Deschamps report. There's been a lot of confusion and dissimulation around this issue and silence from the minister effectively for two weeks, so I appreciate having the occasion to ask some questions.

The minister mentioned that the directive took place before the Deschamps report, but I'll just note that it was actually written on February 25 and the draft review report by Madame Deschamps was received on February 16. That's nine days that this was in hand, so I'd like to ask the minister, was he advised of this initiating directive?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Chair, I have to correct two inaccuracies on the part of Ms. Murray. First of all, I have not been silent on this matter for two weeks. I've been speaking about and responding to questions in the House and media about sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces since the day I was appointed, including every time it's come up in the House or at my appearances at this committee.

Secondly, the CDS did not receive the report in February; he received a draft. Drafts are called drafts because they are subject to change, Mr. Chairman.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

That's what I just said, Mr. Minister.

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

So I would like to correct the member for seeking to mislead the committee on that point and point out that the CDS should be commended for not waiting for the final report to be issued.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

I would appreciate, Mr. Chair—

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

He began to take measures to address this problem, including the appointment of Major-General Christine Whitecross, and has accepted all 10 recommendations in principle.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

I would appreciate it if the minister would do me the courtesy of answering my questions. Was he advised of this directive for which there was a draft report, as I said, and did he sign off on it?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Chair, the report was not commissioned by the minister; neither me nor my predecessor was commissioned—

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

I said the “directive”.

Was he advised of the directive, and did he sign off on it?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Before I was interrupted, Mr. Chair, I was saying that the report was commissioned by the Chief of the Defence Staff, not the minister—neither me, nor my predecessor.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

That was not my question, Mr. Minister.

This directive—

[The Chair, Conservative, Peter Kent]

Let the minister answer the question.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

I would like the clock to stop when this minister starts talking about things that are not related to my question.