Evidence of meeting #56 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 going.
A video is available from Parliament.
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Both the defence plan and the foreign affairs announcement were mute on the UN mission that has been discussed. Where are our troops being sent on a UN mission?
5:20 p.m.
Gen Jonathan Vance
The government has not decided yet where the troops will be sent. We have troops on a UN mission right now. I think we have to remember that. There are over 1,000 troops deployed right now.
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
So there's no specific training you're giving right now for a mission?
5:20 p.m.
Gen Jonathan Vance
I beg your pardon, madam.
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
5:25 p.m.
Gen Jonathan Vance
I don't have troops specifically training for any particular mission. We're doing general training across the board.
In anticipation of government decision-making on this, there's no question that we're doing everything we can to be prudent about being ready, but there is no mission assigned to the Canadian Forces.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Okay.
Canadians remember the politically motivated decision by Chrétien in 1993 to interfere with military procurement, which ended up on the backs of soldiers when his government cancelled the EH101 helicopter contract—a decision that you, Mr. Vance, know very well cost lives in Afghanistan. And any hole that the minister referred to was left over from that decade of darkness that we just didn't had a chance to completely fill.
Keeping in mind the fact that history is exactly repeating itself with the interference in fighter jet procurement, what good is it if we have a plan for 88 jets, or whatever number it is, that relies on a future government 10, 20, and even 50 years from now when we've already seen what happened with the cheap point scoring on the helicopter contract?
Really, when are these going to materialize? We do count on a new government to come in to fulfill this plan.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
That's will have to be left as an opinion, because they're not going to have time to answer it, I'm sorry.
I'm going to give the floor to Mr. Garrison.
5:25 p.m.
Gen Jonathan Vance
And I had a really good answer.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
Maybe Mr. Garrison can pick up on it. It's his time.
You have the floor for the remaining two minutes.
5:25 p.m.
NDP
Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC
Thanks very much.
One thing I was disappointed not to see in the defence review was any mention of the unique ability of the Canadian Armed Forces to function in two official languages. From my own work abroad, I know that's been one of Canada's strong capabilities, and it's one reason we're sometimes called upon.
The minister's not here, and I probably should have asked him this, but what I'm looking for is a commitment that we will continue having that as a focus of the Canadian Armed Forces—units that can operate in both languages and some that operate in either language.
Do we still have that very strong commitment in the defence review? It wasn't mentioned.
5:25 p.m.
Gen Jonathan Vance
Perhaps one reason it wasn't mentioned is the opening of the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, which will be an important avenue to ensure that officer production accounts for la dynamique francophone .
We also are governed appropriately, and thankfully, by the laws of Canada, and we continue to follow the law of Canada as it relates to our institution. We try all the time, every day, to respond appropriately to any challenges against us in terms of our official languages policy, and we seek every day to ensure that people can and will be trained in both official languages. You cannot reach certain rank levels in the armed forces without becoming functionally bilingual, and so on.
There is no backing away from that whatsoever. In fact, I think the opening of the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean is a positive signal that says, “Hey, this is important.”
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Stephen Fuhr
That was the last question.
Gentlemen, thank you for coming today to talk to us about the new defence policy. I am sure we will see you shortly, in the coming months, on the supplementary estimates when they're brought forward.
Thank you very much.