I can hardly take that, Mr. Speaker. I have never experienced this before in my life. I do not want to overdo it and change their minds very quickly. Thank you, that is more like it.
I am going to end my remarks in my presentation by simply saying that we believe the minister is not going far enough in subjecting our armed forces to an outside and independent review process.
This concerns New Democrats a great deal because we feel that the insular culture of the military was in fact in large part responsible for the cover-up that occurred in the Somalia affair.
The measures introduced by the minister in Bill C-25 may be a bit of a help, and I acknowledge that they may be a bit of help, but they really do not address the problem of a military beholden to itself.
The Somalia commission's principle recommendation, the establishment of a formal inspector general system to watch over the military's performance, has been rejected by this minister and his Liberal government. Instead, the minister will allow the military to continue to investigate itself in these matters.
I know that the minister is a very thoughtful individual but I find it hard to believe that he was attached to this because would anybody really believe that the military will continue to investigate itself in a clear fashion. It is a bit like asking the coyote to keep an eye on the chickens in the henhouse and make sure everything is peaceful there.
We point out what appears to be a glaring error in the draft of this legislation and perhaps we will have a chance to change it later.
The minister has also rejected a key recommendation of the Somalia inquiry aimed at protecting both those individuals who report wrongdoing in connection with the Somalia mission and those who may do so in the future. This might be called whistle blowing. Also rejected is the recommendation that military police be more independent of the defence department and report to the solicitor general instead.
The minister also has not accepted the commission's proposal that Parliament set the ground rules for future peacekeeping operations.
I believe this minister has perpetuated the notion that the old boy network in the military is alive and well and that when problems arise, they will be settled clearly within the family. Given the terrible shape of our military these days, I am afraid that is not in any way assuring Canadians.
Bill C-25 reminds us of the government's failure to get to the bottom of the Somalia affair and the government's failure to bring forth the key recommendations of the Somalia commission in this bill indicates to us in the New Democratic Party that there is more secrecy to come and there will still continue to be a great lack of accountability in Canada's military.
Bill C-25, the department of defence response to the need for change in the military justice system, fails to deal with the contentious issue of accountability and responsibility within the senior echelons of the Canadian Armed Forces. That is why we are not terribly enthusiastic about this legislation at this time.
To reiterate, I think it is fair to say that the two areas of serious concern are, first, the fact that there is no protection for whistle blowers, in other words those men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces who see a serious wrongdoing, see something that simply should not take place, who do not feel free to inform others, including the public, of this problem. Until that happens there will always be this sort of cloudy pall hanging over the armed forces with people wondering if everything is going on above board. There is also the matter of accountability. The two are related but there is still the lack of accountability in terms of what is happening, particularly at the leadership level in our forces.
That is what we do not like about the bill but, like everything else, there are good points and there are some bad points. I have emphasized in my role as a critic today some of the more negative and downsides of Bill C-25. But there are positive aspects. I could list a few, but it just is not part of my personality in the House to list positive things. However, I will focus on one positive and that is the removal of the death penalty.
The minister is here in his place and I want to applaud him for his efforts.
Many countries around the world have eliminated the death penalty for their armed forces. The death penalty has been abolished in many western nations with which Canada has very strong ties. Among our NATO allies are countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Greece, Iceland, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Spain. I could list a number of countries which have done away with the death penalty as a punishment for all civil and military offences. Countries outside the NATO sphere have also abolished the death penalty for civil and service offences. Our Commonwealth friends such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have also abolished the death penalty.
The odd state in the U.S. retains the death penalty. It is interesting that those states which have kept the death penalty are those states which have the highest amount of violent crime. There seems to be an inverse relationship to the death penalty when it comes to safety.
Mr. Speaker, I know that you as a learned individual know full well all of the reasons why we have abolished the death penalty in Canada. Now that the Minister of National Defence, through this legislation, has eliminated the death penalty for Canada's armed forces, we join those nations which are the most progressive in the world. I believe it is fair to say that the countries which are the most favourable in the world in which to live, almost inevitably, are those countries which have taken steps to abolish the death penalty. It is a clear signal of the values they place on human life.
I am loath to say that we will not support the bill at this stage. However, we hope that by sending out a clear message to our friend, the minister of defence, there will be a chance to amend it in committee. We will be working hard in committee to improve the legislation.