Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleagues from the Reform Party for sharing their time.
I am happy to speak to this bill today. The government has decided to address the issue of justice in the Canadian forces and it is about time. Like everything this government does, no matter how noble it appears to be, all we have to do is scratch the surface and we will always find an ulterior motive. Those motives generally are to look good rather than to do good. Today is one of those days.
Addressing the issue of justice in the military is both important and urgent. My party understands that if we are going to do something, it is worth doing it right. Unfortunately while there are some interesting points in this bill, it leaves far too much out and does not address the real problems the Canadian forces face today.
There are several questions we have to ask ourselves today. First, what events brought us to this point to have this bill reach Canada's House of Commons? Second, did this government act in the appropriate way and does this bill address the need for change? Third, if passed, will this bill work in a practical way when it is applied? While all of these questions are certainly connected, it would serve us well to take time to ensure that they are answered to Canadians' satisfaction.
The first question is perhaps the most important and the key to this. What events brought us to this point? All members of this House are aware of the events that transpired as a result of other events in Somalia. However they are worth repeating and repeating. The Somalia inquiry was shut down for political and personal reasons last year. That brings us here today.
Inquiry commissions are created because there is a public concern that needs to be addressed. As elected officials to this House, it is incumbent upon all of us to take such matters very seriously. It seems to me that if there is a good enough reason to begin an inquiry commission, then there is probably a real reason to complete that inquiry commission.
Because the Somalia inquiry was cut short, this has never been resolved. The result is that Canada's fine military has been dragged through the mud and still there is no resolution. The result is that Canadians do not know what the true story is and still there is no resolution. It is not because this government suddenly cares about military justice. The government shut down a public inquiry and there was no resolution.
Last month Maclean's magazine revealed that there was ongoing sexual abuse and sexual assault taking place in the military. Women do not feel comfortable doing their job. This is unacceptable.
Although my friends in the Reform Party seem to think that women should not be in the military at all, most members in this House and I believe the minister of defence agrees that this behaviour toward women is unacceptable. Saying it is unacceptable and doing something about it are two different things.
What we have now is an atmosphere of distrust with the Canadian forces members who have been wronged. They feel safer and feel as if more will be accomplished if they go to Maclean's magazine than if they report the crime to the appropriate personnel.
There is something wrong with that and this bill does not fix the problem.
The Minister of National Defence introduced a new ombudsman yesterday. In this House, I congratulated that new ombudsman and wished him well on his new job. When asked, this new ombudsman said that he has not been told what his budget will be, how much staff he will have and has not been given virtually any guidelines. That is certainly not acceptable.
That brings me to the second point I outlined earlier. Did this government act in the appropriate way? Does this bill address the need for change?
I just told this House that I disagree with the way this bill arrived here. However, there is much in this bill that my party agrees with. The problem, however, is that when one tries to cover something up, rather than address the real issues as this government so often does, the result is very often inadequate.
Similarly, because this government is introducing this bill for the wrong reasons, it does not go far enough in addressing the real problems.
Indeed the government missed an excellent opportunity to instil new confidence in our military. The government could have taken measures that would truly make a difference, measures the Canadian public could point to and say “my government listened, I now have faith in the way the military operates”.
But the government did not listen. Instead it shut down an inquiry and stifled debate. Now the Canadian public will feel cheated, and justly so.
There are ongoing investigations into sexual abuse. Does that make the Canadian public feel good about the people who wear Canada's uniform? I do not think so.
This government feels proud when it says it is fulfilling 80% of the recommendations of the Somalia inquiry. I want to make two points about this not so great accomplishment.
First, the Somalia commission was cut short and so we do not know what the full recommendations would have been. Second, while the government thinks 80% is something to brag about, my party's answer to that is quality is much more important than quantity.
The Somalia inquiry commissioners recommended that the judge advocate general be a civilian. The government ignored that recommendation. The Somalia inquiry commissioners recommended that an office of inspector general be created. The government ignored that recommendation.
My party proposed in our election platform last year and we maintain today that creating the office of inspector general would be the best way to make the military accountable and increase transparency to give the public more confidence in its armed forces.
The Minister of National Defence said that the Canadian forces do not need someone looking over their shoulder. Then he goes on to say that the role of inspector general is being fulfilled in other ways. He mentions the grievance board made up of eminent Canadians. He mentions the new ombudsman. Could it be that the grievance board and the ombudsman do not do what an inspector general could do?
The way this bill would have it these bodies have absolutely no teeth. They can make recommendations and the CDS can ignore them. The Canadian public has little reason to believe that the recommendations will not be ignored.
The witnesses who came forward to speak to us on this bill were very knowledgeable. Professor Doug Bland of Queen's University recommended that the committee look at chapter 44 of the Somalia report.
It might be most effective if I read his words directly: “With respect, I would direct your attention to the final section of the report of the inquiry, the Somalia inquiry, `The Need for a Vigilant Parliament', which comes back to my original point. I believe that the defence of Canada, the operation of the armed forces, the delegation of responsibility, every act, every aspect of national defence policy in this country is the responsibility of members of parliament”.
That was on May 12, 1998. I would like to read a motion I put forward on November 29, 1997 at SCONDVA: “That the committee invite the three Somalia commissioners to appear before this committee to speak on chapter 44 of the Somalia report `The Need for a Vigilant Parliament”'.
I presented this motion five months before Professor Bland and others appeared before the committee to discuss this very bill. I am sad to say the motion was turned down.
This government does not want a vigilant parliament because if parliament were too vigilant, this government might not get away with all its schemes.
As the events of the last few days have demonstrated, when there is not one government member in the Chamber, this Liberal government has absolutely no respect for parliament and no respect for democracy. This government's members do not listen. They do what the Prime Minister's office tells them to, no questions asked. After the hepatitis C compensation vote all Canadians know this, but it is true in other instances also.
I want to review some of the amendments that I know this government in its arrogance would not even consider. For example, if I had any faith that this government would actually listen and consider, I would have introduced a motion to establish an independent body of the office of inspector general including the powers to evaluate systematic problems in the military justice; conduct investigations into officer misconduct such as failure to take corrective action, personal misconduct, waste and abuse and possible injustice to individuals; protect those who report wrongdoing from reprisals; protect individuals from abuse of authority and improper personal actions including racial harassment and sexual harassment; and most important, report directly to parliament.
We know that the government would not even listen. The Minister of National Defence is not listening now. But the government did turn down the inspector general with solid reasons that my party could not accept.
Another recommendation we could have made is make the recommendations of the grievance board mandatory and binding and introduce a six month time limit within which the complaints must be examined.
But this government does not listen. It does not hear. It does not want an office with teeth and with real authority.
My party wholeheartedly agrees with the need to change the military justice system. This bill needs to go further to create real change. We want the public to know that the military serves it and not itself. This bill fails to do that and the government has failed to do its job.