National Defence Committee on March 8th, 2016

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

I have a short question, Mr. Chair.

The additional request for funding of $211.7 million for Operation Impact says that the funding for the refocused mission will be reflected in the budget later this month. Do we know yet, on any proposed change to the scope of the mission, whether it's going to be seen as a cost-saving, cost-neutral, or an increase in cost over what has been done in 2015 and is currently being done?

I'm not sure if it's appropriate at this time to ask that question, but I'm curious to see what a refocused mission might look like financially.

[John Forster]

I believe that when the Prime Minister announced the change in the mission, he announced the funding amounts as well. For the military portion next year, the estimate is about $306 million. That will include some contingency, which we may or may not use.

The first year of the mission, which was from August 2014 to March 2015, so only a half-year when it was just rolling out, we spent about $70 million. For this fiscal year, the one ending in March, we'll have final results on the exact costs later this year, which we'll provide to Parliament.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

You're not sure yet whether the proposed refocused mission would be a cheaper mission.

[John Forster]

There will certainly be some savings in returning the six CF-18s and the support crew back to Canada, but at the same time we're sending more trainers. This current year is the first full year of Operation Impact. I don't yet have the final numbers for the end of March.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

There are no assumptions being made, then, that this might be a cheaper mission or a more expensive mission.

[John Forster]

Not at this point.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Mr. Paul-Hus, you have five minutes.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Forster, Mr. Thibault, refocusing Operation IMPACT involves assisting Iraqi security forces by providing equipment to them such as small arms, ammunition and optics. Regarding the $200 million requested in supplementary estimates (C), could you elaborate on the type and quantity of arms, ammunition and optics to be provided, and how much of it will come from the funds requested in the supplementary estimates (C)?

[John Forster]

The budget for the program to provide equipment is a part of Operation IMPACT, but for next year. Consequently, no amount has been set aside for the fiscal year 2015-2016.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

So the cost of arms, ammunitions and optics is not included in supplementary estimates (C).

[John Forster]

That is correct.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

I see.

In the beginning of 2015-2016, the budget of the Department of National Defence was $18.9 billion. During the year there were three supplementary estimates that totalled $769 million, bringing the final amount to $19.7 billion.

As for the 2016-2017 budget, since an amount of $305 million is earmarked for Operation IMPACT, do you expect the budget to be $19.2 billion initially, or do you expect it to be at the same level as the 2015-2016 budget? What will be the scale of the cuts, if there are any?

[John Forster]

The Operation IMPACT funds are for supplies for the next year. Once the budget has been tabled on March 22, we will come back before the committee. This will probably be in the fall. We will then ask for additional funds to finance Operation IMPACT, i.e. the $306 million. We will have to wait until the budget is tabled on March 22 to confirm the amount for Operation IMPACT.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

So, you do not expect these $300 million to be in the initial budget.

[John Forster]

Correct; this will be added to the National Defence budgetary expenses for next year, to be included in the supplementary estimates.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Do I have a little time left, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Yes, you do. You have about three minutes.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Fine.

About the Quebec City Armoury, I would like to know if the $95 million are a part of the National Defence budget, and if that is the case, if the budget is confirmed and protected.

[Colonel Claude Rochette, Assistant Deputy Minister (Finance) and Chief Financial Officer, Department of National Defence]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the question.

We will receive an amount of money this year for funds needed for that project. In addition, that amount is already included in the funds we will be receiving over the next few years. They will be a part of our main estimates.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Fine.

I would like to go back to the point raised by my colleague regarding the Reserve Force.

The 2011 report of General Leslie, who is now a member of Parliament and a colleague, mentioned cuts to the Reserve Force. I was myself once a reservist and I experienced an era where budgets were more or less adequate. On the face of it they seem very interesting, but at the unit level, there are cuts of unknown origin.

Can you confirm to us that in the next estimates, adequate funds will be allocated to the Reserve Force?

[LGen Guy R. Thibault]

Thank you for the question.

I think it is quite true that investments in the Reserve Force are comparable to those earmarked for all other military needs. To obtain a budget that will allow us to do some truly adequate planning, we need confidence.

Our purpose is to instil confidence in all of the elements of the Canadian Forces, and this involves the budget of the Department of Defence which is established for a three-year period. We want to ensure that we can increase our resources either through the Reserve Force or the regular forces.

We are aware of the attrition rate within the Reserve Force. As the minister already mentioned, when there is a loss of resources, it is difficult to offset that through recruitment. At this time, we are really placing the emphasis on a renewal program for the Reserve Force. A few months ago, the Chief of the Defence Staff implemented a work program through which we want to strengthen the resources of the Reserve Force. Within our budgetary program, we want to ensure that we protect the funds that are earmarked for that force.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

That reflects the changes to the mission.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Spengemann, I'll give you three minutes, and then Mr. Bezan will get a couple of minutes. Then we're going to have to excuse our panel and vote on the votes.

The floor is yours.

[Sven Spengemann, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have two very specific questions, because I also sit on the committee for public safety and emergency preparedness.

There are two transfers. They are both very small in magnitude, but I'd like to know the rationale.

The first one is to transfer $3.4 million to Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness concerning the national search and rescue secretariat functions of control and supervision. I'm wondering if you could comment on the rationale of this transfer and if you have any information on how those funds are going to be spent.