Evidence of meeting #116 for National Defence in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was million.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Darren Fisher Liberal Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
The Harry DeWolf is done. It is launched and will be operational next year. The Margaret Brooke is in the process, and the third one has been started already. Am I correct in that?
Liberal
Liberal
Darren Fisher Liberal Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS
Amazing. I was thrilled when you were able to make that announcement last week on the sixth AOPS. That's huge for our community.
When you were last in Petawawa, you unveiled a few of the new military trucks purchased under the medium support vehicle system project. Can you tell us a bit more about this project and how this is going to make a difference to the troops?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
I'm glad you raised the logistics piece. When we look at supporting our military, we sometimes talk about a lot of the armoured vehicles. They play an essential role. There has always been discussion about “more teeth, less tail”. To me, that is a ridiculous statement to make because without the proper logistics, a military cannot properly function. We identified very early the need for these trucks. I was very happy to see that the delivery was happening in Petawawa.
There is not only the flexibility that's going to allow our military to function and better support itself, but when I was there and talked to some of the folks, the soldiers were saying what a tremendous capability it is, how thrilled they are to actually drive the vehicle, and what it actually provides. You know that you're delivering high-quality equipment for our women and men. The interesting aspect of it, as we see these vehicles, is that they are going to be able to find even more ways to get use out of these vehicles.
The logistics sustainment piece for our military is absolutely essential for them to conduct the exercises, the training, and the operations that we as a government ask them to do.
Liberal
Liberal
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Thanks very much.
Minister, thanks for coming. Like Mr. Garrison, I'm always happy to hear of more funding going into military resource centres. I have one in my riding, at CFB Kingston, and from my time as a municipal politician to the current day, I can testify to the amazing work they do in terms of making sure the resources are put there for our military families, in particular when their loved ones are deployed.
Can you comment a little bit on the funding that's going into that?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Ongoing additional money has gone into the military family resource centres. Our teams right now are doing a lot of work on the longer-term projects in terms of the military family resource centres. We're looking at it across Canada, making sure the families will be well supported.
We'll have more to say as the concept is further developed, but one thing I can assure you is that the infrastructure piece to it has top priority from me all the way down. This is also in line with the Seamless Canada work that General Lamarre has been working on tirelessly, to make sure that as families relocate from province to province, they have less burden on them.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
Thank you.
We'll start our five-minute round of questions with MP Dzerowicz.
The floor is yours.
Julie Dzerowicz Davenport, Lib.
Wonderful. Thank you so much.
Thank you for being here, Minister Sajjan, and thank you to the deputy minister and her team. Thank you for honouring the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
Few people know this, but in my 13-square-kilometre riding of Davenport in downtown west Toronto, I have a cemetery that has the largest number of burials of World War I veterans and allied members, at 5,300. It's actually very beautiful. We have an extra-special celebration taking place this Sunday. I just wanted to mention that.
Minister, as part of your remarks, you talked a bit about diversity. Our committee will be moving on to a study of diversity after we've concluded Bill C-77. In light of the events in Saint-Jean reported this spring, and the recent media articles around extreme right and white supremacist views in some Canadian Armed Forces members, I wonder if you might go on record saying something about this.
As well, could you take a moment to talk about diversity and how it is indeed our strength and an essential part of mission success?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Thank you.
Across Canada, there are a lot of cemeteries of our World War I veterans, and it is important to acknowledge and know where those cemeteries are. I have one actually just across the street from my riding.
I'm glad you mentioned the armistice. An honest request in terms of the diversity and how important it is.... If you go back to World War I, and the detailed history of that, the world came together at a time it was needed. The British Empire was Canada, India and many other nations, and they all came. Within six weeks of World War I being declared, you had Indian divisions landing in Europe, in Belgium, trying to block the Germans. You had units coming from Africa, Canadians coming together. I remind everybody that when conflict is there, no one looks at the colour of your skin. It's just about “Are going to back me up?”
We cannot forget those lessons, especially at a time like this. We have forgotten those lessons, and this is why we have dealt with a lot of problems within the Canadian Armed Forces. We need to acknowledge that, and we have. Whether it's Operation Honour or the issues of racism in the Canadian Armed Forces, we as a leadership—our government and also the senior leadership in DND and the military—acknowledge this and are actively working very hard and aggressively to deal with it.
The importance of creating that environment and making sure that we have superb, diverse Canadian Armed Forces makes us more effective operationally. I personally witnessed this overseas, and other nations also see this as a value. We have the ability to do so, but we need to make sure that we recruit the best.
Regrettably, I am concerned about some of the things that I have seen and read about. One thing I can assure you is that any incident that is discovered in the Canadian Armed Forces, any incident that is reported, is investigated and aggressively dealt with. We are committed to making sure that we create that environment with every Canadian Armed Forces member to have the honour of serving with this uniform and to remember the lessons that were learned, because when you work together overseas, no one looks at the colour of your skin. We are working very aggressively. I am monitoring this situation very closely. This is, regrettably, a result of what we also see around the world.
One thing in Canada, for us, is that we need to take a leadership role. The apology the Prime Minister made just yesterday is a reminder to all of us that we as leaders, as parliamentarians, need to ask what we are doing and what our responsibility is in this to make sure that our entire nation stays on the right path so that our grandchildren or great-grandchildren down the road don't come back and say, what were they thinking?
We in the Canadian Armed Forces have a tremendous responsibility on this. One thing of which I can assure all the members here is how seriously we take this, and we will aggressively continue to deal with it until we have stomped it out completely.
Davenport, Lib.
Thank you so much. I was told I have no more time, sadly.
Thank you.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Since the minister takes the issue of sexual assault so seriously, when was it that he was briefed on the alleged sexual assaults that occurred on the VIP party flight to Latvia?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
I don't have the exact date, but I can assure you that these incidents are not only —
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
When? If you don't know exactly when, give me a time frame. Was it a week, a month, a year? When were you advised?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
As I stated, I don't have the exact date. But when it was reported, immediate action was taken to make sure that there was appropriate investigation and that our members at that time were well looked after. It not only allowed making sure there was a thorough investigation, but the military leadership also made the right decision to put a cease on this.
November 8th, 2018 / 11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Thank you. Since the minister does not have the date and I told him the time frame was good enough, perhaps he would be so kind as to get that date to us at a later point in time within the week, before these have to be reported.
Did the minister or his office approve the statements that went out from the Department of National Defence public affairs that have since been proven to be false? Did the minister approve them?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
I don't understand your question, because the premise that you're insinuating is....
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Did you approve the statements that went out from DND public affairs about the VIP flight to Latvia?
Liberal
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
I am referring to the statements that it was just a normal flight and that alcohol was served to the extent that a commercial flight would serve it.
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
For me to answer that question, I need the accuracy to know what we're talking about. If you're talking about the ATIPs....