National Defence Committee on March 9th, 2017

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

I have some pretty good experience here and it's something I'm examining at a larger policy level. With regard to the reserves, in some places, demographics allow you to recruit more, but there have been limits. Some units are already filled up. We're looking at where we can actually grow. If the demographic and the population allow us to grow, we're looking at certain units to grow more. In some places, where there are units but they don't have the demographics at this time, we're looking at putting the resources in the right area to allow the reserves to grow.

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

Just retaining our flexibility geographically—

[VAdm Ron Lloyd]

Exactly. We had artificially high establishments in some communities that would never have been able to attract that many people. We've said, okay, let's adjust that, so in our big population centres, in some instances we've increased our establishment by half or up to three-quarters in order to allow them to attract.

The other thing that's important is that when a young Canadian goes to a naval reserve unit, they have to see challenging, rewarding employment opportunities. In the naval reserve—I know that a bit better than the army reserve—we've instituted a new task, which is to provide security capabilities to our deployed ships as an example.

We have over 200 reservists volunteering to take part in that activity this summer, so I'm hoping they come back and they'll tell their friends, who'll tell their friends, and—

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

That goes toward retention as well.

[VAdm Ron Lloyd]

Exactly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Mr. Paul-Hus, go ahead.

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

Welcome, Mr. Sajjan, gentlemen.

You made an announcement yesterday about the cadets who were the victims of a grenade blast in Valcartier. The initial basic amounts will be paid by cheque to the individuals concerned. I did a rough calculation. There are 155 individuals who will receive $42,000 each. That is close to $7 million.

Will that come out of the new budget or this year's budget?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

You're talking about the announcements we made today?

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

Yes. The cadets will receive around $7 million?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

I'm happy to give you the full compensation that we have discussed with the cadet committee. We have approval for...I forget the exact amount now, but it's a very compassionate way of getting closure. That's one of the things moving forward.

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

Actually, I would like to know if the amounts allocated to the program will come from this year's budget or next year's. There is no request to increase the budget to pay these people.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

That was in addition, right?

[John Forster]

There is no request for that in the supplementary estimates (C). Next year, we will pay out the amount requested. So the money will come from next year's budget.

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

Very good.

Getting back to Operation Reassurance, you have requested $28,530,000. How will Canada's leadership be perceived in light of this mission and the one we have just renewed in Ukraine? How will the Russians view all that?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

How are the Russians going to perceive what we're doing because of Ukraine and the Latvia missions?

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

That we're putting more money into that.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

The goal is that we're sending a message of unity, that we have solidarity within NATO. The Ukraine mission is not within the NATO context; it's bilateral, but at the same time we're working with our NATO partners, with the U.K., Poland, and the U.S. as well. Even though it may not be under NATO, it's the same nations. The message that we've consistently tried to send is that the illegal annexations of Crimea and what they're doing in Ukraine and Georgia are unacceptable, as are some of their other actions. NATO will always stand together, united. That's the message that we're sending.

We'll also always be open to dialogue, and we want to be able to de-escalate any time the situation arises. That's the goal of this, but we're not going to leave it just to a conversation. We need to make sure that we send a very strong and positive message, and that's what these missions are about.

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

Continuing on about this mission, you confirmed that six CF-18s will be assigned to Operation Reassurance. What kind of mission will these aircraft be used for and when will they be used?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

For the air policing you're talking about, right? For the—

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

You will send six—

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

One is Iceland first, and then Romania, right? I think Iceland is coming up—

[VAdm Ron Lloyd]

Let me just see if I can find it, Minister.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

I think Iceland is coming soon, and the one in Romania is going to happen between September and December. It's basically whatever time frame that's worked out with NATO, so Iceland and Romania will be the two.

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

What kind of operation are they conducting, and how often?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

It'll be air policing, similar to what they've been doing in the past.