Veterans Affairs Committee on Oct. 31st, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

I'm sorry, but your time is up. It'll be possible to come back to this in the second round of questions, which will last 25 minutes in total.

Go ahead, Mr. Richards. You have five minutes.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Has construction on the monument to Canada's mission in Afghanistan started?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

No, it has not.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

It hasn't started. Okay.

Do we have any idea when the monument will be completed?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

I'm going to pass that off to my deputy, but I can tell you that the contract was signed with the NCC. Work will be under way very soon.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Can you give me a completion date? That's all I'm asking for.

[Amy Meunier]

The current tentative timeline would be for an unveiling in 2027.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Okay. It took this government eight years to announce a design. Nothing has been built—nothing. It took eight years. Then when the design comes out it has been bungled so badly that it's absolutely mired in controversy at this point. Who knows? Maybe it will end up in court, which will further hold this thing up.

I'm actually wondering at this point, at the rate this government is moving, whether any of the Afghanistan veterans will still be with us to see the monument when it actually gets built. That's how bad this is at this point.

What do you have to say to the more than 40,000 Canadians who served as part of this mission? What do you say to the families of the 158 Canadians who gave their lives in Afghanistan about how badly this has been handled and how badly you've honoured the memory of those 158 Canadians?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Mr. Richards, first and foremost, we can't forget that when this process first started your government had chosen a location that really was not convenient to the veterans at the time. They really complained and indicated that they didn't want that location to be the location of choice. When we formed government, we changed the location. That's why we made—

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Is this what you're going to say to the families of the 158 Canadians who have given their lives for this country? You're talking about eight years. We only have a design, and there's no construction at all. It's mired in so much controversy, and that's what you have to say to those families. That is disgraceful.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

I'm answering your question, actually, Mr. Richards.

From there we'll continue on by indicating that our message to the veterans and to the family members who have lost loved ones is that we are listening to the veterans, and we want to make sure we get this right. That is why we are moving forward with the Stimson concept, because veterans have told us across the country that the concept represents best the sacrifice, their loss and also their families' involvement with respect to their day-to-day lives.

I will always be ensuring that I respect that decision that has been made. Again, listening to veterans is what I will do as the Minister of Veterans Affairs.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

I certainly hope we'll see some action soon.

I'll turn the rest of my time to Mr. Paul-Hus.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

You have two minutes left.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. St‑Onge, let's go back to the morning of June 19, 2023, when the choice of project was announced. An hour before that announcement, in a videoconference meeting with the Daoust team, the former minister congratulated them on having won the competition, but informed them that, unfortunately, their design wouldn't be selected. In the same meeting, the Daoust team was told that it would be offered financial compensation for the loss of profits associated with the project.

Can you tell us how much money you gave them?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

I'd like to set the record straight. As I understand it, it was people from Veterans Affairs Canada who spoke to the Daoust team, not the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

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

So, can you answer my question, Ms. Petitpas Taylor?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

Again, I will give the floor to the deputy minister, since I was not in my position at the time.

[Paul Ledwell]

Yes, that's true. The same day, an hour before the announcement, we contacted the four other teams that had taken part in the competition. We let the Daoust team know that we were ready to discuss the amount of financial compensation. We offered them the equivalent of 10%, which is normal in such cases. That was communicated to the team. We told them several times that we were ready to meet with them to discuss the matter, and we had no response from them at that time.

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

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Ledwell.

Ms. St‑Onge, I have one last question for you. Léger evaluated the survey and completely destroyed its credibility. According to Léger, the survey is worthless. Those aren't my words.

An extremely important process of the Department of Canadian Heritage that involved a call for tenders and having a jury of experts manage the competition, was thrown out. Don't you think that shouldn't have happened?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

As my colleague the Minister of Veterans Affairs said, we have never referred to a survey. That said, a consultation was held with veterans, including those who took part in the mission in Afghanistan, and with their families.

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

However, it—

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you, Mr. Paul‑Hus. You have to look at me from time to time to know that your time is running out.

I'll now give the floor to Mr. Sarai for five minutes.

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Thank you.

I'm just going to have Mr. Casey finish off a question, and then I'll come back in for the rest of the time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Okay.

Go ahead, Mr. Casey.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Sarai.

Ms. Petitpas Taylor, during that meeting, you were very clear that your primary concern was to hear the opinion of veterans. However, most of the questions you were asked were about the process.

The last time you came to testify here, on October 19, just 12 days ago, my honourable colleague Mr. Desilets, from the Bloc Québécois, for whom I have a great deal of respect, said: “…this issue isn't about veterans, in my opinion.”

Can you respond to that comment?