Madam Speaker, there is nothing like parking one's brain at the door and ignoring the facts. It would probably be a prudent thing to deal with the facts. The only thing the member got straight was the fact of the guidelines. There is nothing like playing politics with reality. Let us deal with the facts. I would ask the member to look at them in the context of what he said.
First, there is a total fleet of four Challenger jets. Two jets are on reserve all the time, one for the Prime Minister and one for the Governor General. For security reasons they cannot travel by regular commercial flights. There are two jets available for ministers, and the member got the guidelines correct. They are available for travel by ministers, members of the opposition, VIPs and senior public servants for use in government business. For example, a Challenger was used a year ago to shepherd a number of members of Parliament, including members of the opposition, to attend the funeral of Lieutenant Saunders who died on the HMCS Chicoutimi .
Canada is a vast country and this kind of transportation guarantees that MPs and ministers can rapidly reach every corner of the country when they need to do government business. They use the Challenger fleet under very well defined Treasury Board guidelines, which are as follows: first, they are only used for government business; second, when savings of essential time can be made; third, when sudden changes of plans are required; fourth, for emergency air transportation; and fifth, when official parties of some kind need to travel to distant parts of the country or internationally for government business.
Indeed we do say no. I looked at the facts on this. There were about 150 applications to use the Challengers and they were used about 120 times. That was over a period of about three years. We can see that the number of times the Challengers are used is actually quite infrequent. Members of Parliament and indeed ministers travel together on most commercial flights. Frequently the minister says no to the use of the Challengers.
Our policy is very clear. Ministers must justify the use of the Challengers. This information is a matter of public record. Challenger use is scrutinized very publicly. It is also carefully controlled. It is a use of last resort.
Just for the member's information about travelling for the rest of us, I happen to travel economy class. The same cannot be said for many of his colleagues.