Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in my place as a consequence of the question I asked the defence minister on February 11 regarding the location of the joint task force 2, JTF2, facility on Dwyer Hill Road in the City of Ottawa, and the mistreatment of adjacent landowners by the federal government.
First, I would like to thank the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence for his comments last week regarding my interest in JTF2. It is in the spirit of those comments that I asked the minister my original question back in February.
It is very clear that a number of problems exist with the Dwyer Hill base. The question the minister needs to answer is whether those problems can be fixed. If that is the case, decisions should be made and we should get on with it. If, on the other hand, the evidence supports moving the commando base, and I believe the evidence exists to support that option, the federal government needs to immediately take the appropriate steps for the benefit of all parties involved.
I am on record as supporting the move of the JTF2 base from Dwyer Hill to CFB Petawawa, which I readily acknowledge is located in my riding of Renfrew--Nipissing--Pembroke. However it was when I had the opportunity to personally walk the fields of the adjacent landowners and see the environmental damage caused by the Department of National Defence, and hear firsthand the stories of harassment and bargaining in bad faith, that I came to the conclusion that the type of operation run by JTF2 did not belong in a populated area.
The defence department is in public self-denial when it suggests it has good relations with its neighbours. CFB Petawawa, on the other hand, enjoys good community relations.
I am pleased to confirm that the local municipal councils of Pembroke, Petawawa, Deep River, Laurentian Hills, Whitewater Region, Laurentian Valley and the county of Renfrew have all passed motions supporting the JTF2 moving to CFB Petawawa.
Base Petawawa has a space to conduct training in secrecy and the base has the necessary infrastructure support for the families and their dependants. Most important, CFB Petawawa is home to the 427 helicopter squadron that provides the air transport for JTF2. Response times in the nation's capital would be improved since the helicopters could fly from Petawawa directly to where they are needed, rather than wasting valuable response time flying from Petawawa to Dwyer Hill to pick up the JTF2 soldiers, then flying on to their mission.
Currently, JTF2 does extensive training at CFB Petawawa. Stationing the JTF2 soldiers on base rather than putting them in hotels, which is just what went on these last few weeks, would save the taxpayers money.
The unfair treatment of the local landowner, Mr. Ron Mayhew, has been recognized in an editorial in the Ottawa Citizen as being unfair and an injustice. It goes on to say that Mr. Mayhew's property has become a bad dream because of the base, and not because of anything he has done. It is time for Mr. Mayhew's nightmare for to end.
As of today, no fair offer has been made to Mr. Mayhew, and apart from the threat to expropriate Mr. Mayhew's farm, nothing continues to happen. Government lawyers defer, defer, defer, and now, as a consequence of refusing to deal reasonably with Mr. Mayhew, the Department of National Defence has exposed the public purse to potentially millions of dollars in lawsuits. Mr. Mayhew has been forced to go to court to get action.
This is really the story of David and Goliath. Mr. Mayhew fights the taxpayers' purse for his basic rights.