National Defence Committee on May 29th, 2018

[Jean Rioux, Liberal, Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you.

My thanks to the witnesses for being here.

A link has been established with the business community, which will also result in the army's needs being met. This is the IDEaS program. DND's first objective is to make sure that all our people have the equipment they need. For the business community, this program is also a unique opportunity to create goods and services for the future.

Can you tell us about the program?

[Jody Thomas]

I'm very happy to speak about that program. IDEaS is one of the initiatives out of SSE that we are the most proud of. We are taking the way we solve problems and, in some cases, how we do procurement and work with the academic environment and businesses to change it completely.

Rather than competing for solutions to “we need new boots for the army”, we are competing the problem, “our boots get too wet”. I'm being very simplistic. I understand that, but that's what we're doing. We're going out and saying that we have a problem. We don't know how to solve it. What are your solutions? We're inviting people to compete.

In some cases, that competition may end up in a procurement, depending on how it goes and what we find out. We're using it for procurement. We're also using it for research into personnel. We're using it for artificial intelligence. It is modernizing how we do the business of defence significantly and it is engaging Canadians, Canadian industry, and academia in solving problems for the Canadian Armed Forces.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

That's all the time you're going to have.

I'm going to yield the last question to MP Yurdiga. You have about three minutes.

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you. I'll be sharing my time with MP Deltell.

Currently, we have a significant fighter jet pilot shortage. Even if we acquired the Australian fighter jets, do we even have pilots to fly them? What is DND's strategy to attract more individuals to the fighter jet pilot program?

[RAdm D.C. Hawco]

You're quite right that there is a requirement to have trained pilots able to manage the fleet, to be able to operate, to be able to do planning, and be part of target package work in CAOC, command and operational centres, both in Winnipeg and deployed.

You're also making the point that, in industry, as we see the demographics of individuals who work for airlines and whatnot being available for flight, we're seeing a pull on.... This is actually not the first time that this has happened. We recognize that attracting pilots is not really the problem, since we are always able to bring in a very large cohort. It's running through a selection process to identify those people that have the aptitudes, the skills, and the medical capabilities to do that.

We know in our approach to pilot training from a fighter lead-in training point of view and from a fighter air crew training point of view.... We have two substantive programmatic service contracts that are going to be evolving, coming in the latter part of this decade and the beginning part of the next decade, that will tailor and allow for changes to throughput for pilots that will allow us to adapt to these sorts of bumps or demographic pulls from industry. We're really tracking the program.

Part of the answer to your question is that we don't assign pilots to do staff positions as part of a normal rotation. In fact, most pilots want to stay on the flight line. They're less interested in the normal rotation where they would stop flying duties and move to staff officer duty. We'll use approaches like that to mitigate. It's very straightforward actually.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Could we have a question and a response?

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

I would like to talk about the ships named Asterix and Obelix.

The Davie shipyard, located close to Quebec City and to my constituency, has done something remarkable with Asterix. She is on time and on budget.

There were plans for a second supply ship, the Obelix. Why was that project turned down?

[Jody Thomas]

I'm happy to answer that.

“Strong, Secure, Engaged” is very clear that we would use the interim IAOR, the Asterix, and procure two joint supply ships through Vancouver Shipyards, and that's what's in the plan. At this point we have determined that the one interim vessel is fulfilling an enormous need. We're very pleased to have it, but what we want, and what the navy has asked for, and the chief of the defence staff has directed, is to procure the two joint supply ships through Vancouver Shipyards.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Vancouver Shipyards?

[Jody Thomas]

Yes.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

In Vancouver?

[Jody Thomas]

Right.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

You're ready to do that here in Quebec. Why not?

[Jody Thomas]

There is a difference between procuring two new ships that are built for purpose and procuring a refitted commercial vessel. It's not—

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

It's useful. We have done that.

[Jody Thomas]

It is useful, but it's not a warship, and what we've determined we need is a warship, built for purpose.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

I'm going to have to hold it there.

If you could bear with us, we have to do our democratic duty, so I'll call the vote.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC]

I believe we received a commitment from the minister for a progress report on the revision of service records, and hopefully that will tell us what that program is and what progress has been made. I just don't want that to disappear here, because people have been waiting a very long time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Fair enough. We know there's an undertaking to receive that.

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

[Inaudible—Editor] that was promised to come forward on the cost of the future fighter jet capability and the interim fighter jet capability that Mr. Yurdiga had asked for.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Fair enough.

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

I'd like to ask for a recorded vote, please.

[The Chair, Liberal, Stephen Fuhr]

Okay. I'll let the clerk manage that.

COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY ESTABLISHMENT

Vote 1—Program Expenditures..........$587,881,292

(Vote 1 agreed to: yeas 5; nays 4)

DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE

Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$15,237,553,800

Vote 5—Capital expenditures..........$3,761,023,833

Vote 10—Grants and contributions..........$176,719,317

(Votes 1, 5, and 10 agreed to: yeas 5; nays 4)

MILITARY GRIEVANCES EXTERNAL REVIEW COMMITTEE

Vote 1—Program expenditures..........$6,150,062

(Vote 1 agreed to: yeas 5; nays 4)

MILITARY POLICE COMPLAINTS COMMISSION

Vote 1—Program expenditures.........$4,288,506

(Vote 1 agreed to: yeas 5; nays 4)

OFFICE OF THE COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY ESTABLISHMENT COMMISSIONER

Vote 1—Program expenditures..........$1,954,662

(Vote 1 agreed to: yeas 5; nays 4)

Shall I report the votes on the main estimates 2018-19, less the amounts voted in the interim estimates, to the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

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

On division.