National Defence Committee on June 6th, 2022

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Our troops that are deployed in eastern Europe are part of a NATO mission there. In fact, we lead the enhanced forward presence battle group, and we are standing shoulder to shoulder with our NATO allies.

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

Thank you, Minister, but the question is this. Are our troops equipped with the radiation detectors, both personally for their body as well as for their equipment?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Our troops, and indeed the NATO troops generally, have as their core mission to ensure the protection of NATO's eastern flank. They are well equipped, they are well resourced and they are on the front lines, as it were, in protecting NATO's eastern flank. We are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that our troops are well—

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

Our troops are doing a magnificent job.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Yes, they are.

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

They are training.... Any of the Ukrainians inside the country who are battling, they attribute their successes to the training that our troops gave them, but my question is about whether or not our troops are adequately protected.

Do they have, for example, the iodine pills should there be a launch, an explosion or even an accidental hitting of the top of a nuclear facility, just like nearly happened yesterday?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I'd just like to say that chemical, radiological, biological and nuclear equipment is forward deployed.

Thank you.

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

How do we dispose of the CBRN equipment that we don't use? Is it backfilled?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

We conduct FP assessments for our personnel when they are deployed. We support them accordingly. We make sure that any equipment is properly adhering to safety standards regarding disposal.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Mrs. Gallant.

In the final five minutes, we'll go back to you, Madam Lambropoulos. I cut you off from your last question.

Mr. Robillard has a brief question as well.

You have a few minutes, Madam Lambropoulos.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

I'll pass the time to Mr. Robillard.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Go ahead, Mr. Robillard.

[Yves Robillard, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Minister.

I'm happy to finally be able to speak in my mother tongue.

First, I want to congratulate you for your excellent work since your appointment.

Minister, like many Canadians, I was very happy to see you announce the start of the finalization phase of the future fighter capability project. That's excellent news for Canadians and all military members.

Can you explain why this procurement project is so important to Royal Canadian Air Force members, Canadians across the country and, specifically, the base at Bagotville?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Thank you very much for this question.

You're entirely correct. It's excellent news for the Royal Canadian Air Force and for all Canadians. Our government is now closer to delivering a new fleet of 88 state-of-the-art fighter jets to the Royal Canadian Air Force. This is the largest investment for the RCAF in over 30 years.

The F‑35 aircraft is used by several partners in NORAD and NATO and has proven to be a mature, capable and interoperable aircraft. It will allow our pilots to use the most advanced equipment to protect Canada's sovereignty, including in the Arctic, and to respect our commitments to NORAD and NATO. It will be used, for example, to deal with unforeseen threats. We expect delivery of the first aircraft early in 2025.

As for the country's bases, including Bagotville, the acquisition of these fighter jets will have a number of benefits. For example, to prepare for the arrival of our future fighter jets, we're preparing for the construction of the new facilities for the fleet in Bagotville and Cold Lake. As a result, upgrades are needed to infrastructure to support the maintenance and operation of these new aircraft.

The funds requested in the main estimates will allow activities to continue for the construction of infrastructure and new facilities for the fighter squadron.

As for economic benefits, we expect the production of facilities for the fighter squadron to generate over 900 jobs, which is very significant.

We're very excited about the procurement of this equipment for our armed forces, for the defence of our country and for a stronger contribution to NATO and NORAD.

[Yves Robillard, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Again, I congratulate you for your excellent French.

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Thank you, Mr. Robillard.

With that, it's 4:30. We're right on time.

I thank colleagues for their co-operation.

Madam Minister, I want to thank you for your attendance and, as you know, we're always open to visits by the minister.

With that, I'm going to suspend. We will reconvene as soon as the minister signs off and start our six-minute round with Mr. Allison.

We'll suspend for a minute. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Mr. Allison, you have six minutes.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have a couple of questions for the staff, the deputy ministers and the vice-chief of the defence staff.

This question is in regard to the minister's mention of our Arctic sovereignty. Did she say there were six patrol ships that have been on order for specifically the Arctic?

[Bill Matthews]

Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair.

There are six Arctic offshore patrol ships being built for the Royal Canadian Navy, and there's also a seventh and an eighth that will be used by the Coast Guard, but we're obviously more interested in the first six.

The third one is in the water now. We're expecting it to be delivered to the navy some time this fall. Ideally, construction of number six will also start at some point during the calendar year, because there are multiple ships being built at the same time as they go through the process.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

When do you anticipate having that final sixth ship ready to patrol the Arctic?

[Bill Matthews]

I'm going from memory here, but I'll say 2025. My official, Troy, is with me. If I have this wrong, he can correct me. I think I just saw a thumbs-up, so it's 2025.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Perfect.

[Troy Crosby, Assistant Deputy Minister, Materiel Group, Department of National Defence]

Actually, Deputy, 2026 would be more—

[Bill Matthews]

It's 2026. There we go.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Great.

There are a lot of numbers floating around in terms of aid to Ukraine and what has been committed.

Could you just recap for us the total amount of aid/equipment in terms of dollars, what those commitments are over the next couple of years and then what stage we are at in that process?