Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke for her comments with respect to JTF2. I know she shares my view that this very elite unit of the Canadian Forces has done remarkable work, both in Canada and abroad. As members know, last summer I had the chance, along with the Minister of National Defence, to visit Afghanistan and to see firsthand the remarkable work our forces are doing.
In budget 2001, the Government of Canada invested more than $1.2 billion in the defence portfolio. In this budget we also called for an increase in the capacity of JTF2 to better respond to Canada's security needs, both at home and abroad. This was, in particular, to respond to the new terrorist threat.
As the member knows, the enhancement plan for JTF2 requires additional infrastructure at the current Dwyer Hill training centre in order to accommodate and train more personnel. The Dwyer Hill facility is a unique facility with a unique and sensitive mandate where JTF2 forces, as well as members of other police forces, conduct various training exercises.
At present, as the minister has indicated, there are no plans to relocate the facility as there continues to be, in the view of the department, a very significant operational advantage to be derived from the current location. Indeed, the department has identified two adjacent properties to the current centre that would be appropriate to support additional infrastructure requirements. One of these properties has been purchased and the department has expressed an interest in purchasing the second property.
The department is well aware that the plans to expand the facility at Dwyer Hill have caused concern among local residents. Indeed, the member for Nepean—Carleton, on a number of occasions, has made the government aware of the concerns of local residents. The department has taken those concerns seriously and a team of departmental officials, led by a senior officer of the forces, has been established to better the communications with local residents by listening to and responding to their very legitimate concerns.
However we do not share the member's opinion that a plan to relocate JTF2 at this point would be warranted or appropriate. We believe it is more important to work on the existing facility by improving the relations with the local residents, and we acknowledge that this will require some work.
For that reason, the minister has instructed his group of people to begin a consultation with the local residents. I can report that they are making good progress. However to say that there are plans at the current time to relocate this facility to Petawawa is simply not an accurate representation of what we believe the operational requirements of that facility to be.