National Defence Committee on June 13th, 2017

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

That's the motion that's on the table for debate.

Mr. Gerretsen.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

I'm looking for some clarification. The two motions that you had—

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Right. One is for a study and one is just a call for documents.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Got it. Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

This is a call for documents.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

We're talking about the call—

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

For the production of papers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Yes.

My apologies, Mr. Spengemann.

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

Mr. Chair, it's not so much about the physical documents and in what form they'll be delivered. It's about the information in the documents. The minister was in front of the committee of the whole recently and questions were asked relating to that. There's a record there.

The other thing is that I believe I made a motion earlier this afternoon that the minister would be invited on the 20th. There's an additional opportunity to ask questions of the minister and his accompanying staff on that occasion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Mr. Bezan.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

That's why I'm probably not going to move the other motion to do the study, since we are going to have the minister here, but the call for documents does provide us with greater detail on the exact investments.

Some documents, tables, and investments have been outlined in the defence policy, but at the same time, it's not a fulsome list, especially when you look at the $8.5 billion in this past budget 2017 and how not all the money has been accounted for. This is about informing us as committee members. It doesn't require us to undertake a study. It doesn't require us to meet and discuss it. It does require the department to provide us with that information.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Mr. Gerretsen, did you want to speak to this? No.

All right. As moved by Mr. Bezan, all in favour of this motion?

Did you want me to read it again? All in favour by a show of hands?

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

We'd like a recorded vote, please.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

All right. We'll have a recorded vote.

Ms. Alleslev, did you want to keep talking?

[Leona Alleslev, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Yes. Did we close debate? Did I miss it?

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Yes, you did.

[Leona Alleslev, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

This is a recorded vote.

(Motion negatived: nays 5; yeas 4)

That's defeated.

Mr. Bezan.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

The next one I would like to move, especially knowing that the days of the independence of our parliamentary budget officer are quickly closing, is a motion that I tabled on December 1, 2016. I first gave oral notice of this motion, and I move it now. It reads as follows:

That the Committee request that the Parliamentary Budget Officer provide the Committee with a general analysis, within twenty-one (21) calendar days after the adoption of this motion, in regards to the decision of the Government of Canada to sole-source the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet for National Defence; that this analysis include, but not be limited to the Department of National Defence's estimates on the cost of the F/A-18 Super Hornet for: a. Acquisition;

b. Maintenance, training and operations;

c. Lifecycle costs;

d. Associated costs of operating a mixed fleet of fighter jets; and

That the Committee order the Government of Canada to provide the Committee with electronic copies of the following:

1. All documents that outline acquisition costs, lifecycle costs, and operational requirements associated with the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet;

2. All potential industrial losses if the Memorandum of Understanding in regards to Lockheed Martin's F-35 JSF program were to be altered and if industrial benefits were to leave Canada.

I know that you guys would love to support this.

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

I'd love a couple of minutes to read it again.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Can we compel the government to do that? Can the committee order the Government of Canada to provide this information?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

We can call for documents. That's one of the powers we have as a committee.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

We can require that? I didn't know that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Is there any discussion?

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

I notice that we want to “request” something from the PBO but we demand something from the government.