Debates of May 17th, 2007

National Defence—Main Estimates 2007-08

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Chair, that is a positive note. I think Canadians will be very pleased to hear that is the position the government has taken. However, I hope, consistent with that, we will get confirmation from the minister that objections are being made with any other nations in Afghanistan that possibly are violating this position because, of course, 90% of the victims of cluster bombs are civilians.

I represent the riding of Halifax and I am very proud to represent that military town with a proud military history and incredible support of our troops in their many roles in today's world.The minister will be aware that the largest munitions explosion, in fact I think the largest man-made explosion in the history of the world before the detonation of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, took place at Halifax Harbour, the Halifax explosion.

I think he will, therefore, understand that the people of Halifax are particularly committed to the nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament commitments that Canada has endorsed. I am wondering if the minister could indicate whether his government has any policy, particularly DND, that takes objection to the stated objectives and the policies of the Mayors for Peace movement, which actually has 1,632 member municipalities in today's world, and growing all the time, because of the renewed threat in today's world of nuclear arms.

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am not aware of the specific reference that the member has made. However, the position of the Canadian government is normally enunciated and enforced by the Department of Foreign Affairs. If the member talked to the Minister of Foreign Affairs he could probably bring her up to date on that.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate that he has directed me to foreign affairs to find out what its position is, but I am also asking specifically whether National Defence has a position on Mayors for Peace because it has been suggested to me that there may be a difference of opinion between the two departments.

If he is not able to indicate that at this moment, I wonder if I could ask him to undertake whatever necessary research he must undergo to give an answer to that question.

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, in a few words, could the member tell me what this group represents or what it stands for because I do not know what it stands for?

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Chair, the Mayors for Peace organization, which is a global movement, is committed to the fulfillment of the obligations set out in the non-proliferation treaty.

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, again, this is a foreign affairs domain, but to my knowledge we support the concept of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Chair, non-proliferation and also disarmament?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, we are a member of NATO and we stand by NATO's policies. NATO, at this stage, has no policy of disarming from nuclear weapons.

As the member knows, Canada chose, back in 1945 when we participated in creating the nuclear weapons, not to have nuclear weapons. That is our national stand.

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I am going to have to stop the minister there and move on to the hon. member for Winnipeg South Centre.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the members for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country and Laval—Les Îles. We will each be asking questions for five minutes.

The decommissioned Kapyong Barracks site in my riding of Winnipeg South Centre has been vacated for over five years. The government chose a two-phased disposal process for the land transfer and the military buildings to be followed by that of the personnel married quarters.

Could the minister tell me when the lengthy process for the transfer of lands and buildings to Canada Lands will be completed?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, I do not have the date when that will happen. In fact, and I may be wrong, it was my understanding that Canada Lands already had control of those buildings. However, I will check that out.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, indeed, Canada Lands does not have the lands or buildings.

Would the minister know whether the Treasury Board submission for the transfer of the homes has been completed and has it yet been reviewed by Treasury Board?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, I do not have an answer to that either.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, my next question concerns the personnel married quarters at Kapyong. Over 150 houses have been sitting empty for two years. In April of last year, we were told that the cost of maintaining these homes, heat, maintenance, security, whatever, has been over $.25 million annually. How long does the minister expect these maintenance expenditures to continue?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, the member opposite has confirmed for me that we are still in the process of handing these over to Canada Lands. If that is accurate, once they are handed over to Canada Lands it is up to Canada Lands to take up any costs.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, I would remind the minister that it is a two phase process: the lands first, the homes second.

The disposal of the land at Kapyong Barracks to Canada Lands was negotiated for a sum of $8.6 million. The price appears to be fair but if the houses remain empty for two more years the maintenance costs will be approximately $1 million.

Would the minister consider the loss of $1 million from an $8.6 million sale as being focused, as the finance minister has declared?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, I do not have these numbers immediately available to me. I do not know if they are an accurate reflection of the costs and I do not know if they are an accurate reflection of our ownership of these houses. However, I will check them out and get an answer back to the member.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, I would ask the minister if he would consider or commit to fast-tracking the disposal process of the empty homes at the Kapyong site to Canada Lands. These houses can be put to good use in relieving the current lack of rental homes in Winnipeg.

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, I will investigate this. I need to speak to our officials to find out what all the implications are.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, I raise these questions this evening because I have written to the minister's office twice asking for 10 minutes of his time to come and discuss these matters but I have not had a reply.

The 2006 budget stated in the defence section that the government will increase the DND budget over five years to increase the base infrastructure of housing for our forces.

Let me cross the river in Winnipeg. Could the minister tell us what increases are scheduled for 17 Wing in Winnipeg?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, that is too detailed a question for me to immediately answer. I will get the answer for her.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, in the last election, the Conservatives promised to improve the air force squadrons at CFB Comox, CFB Winnipeg and throughout the west by deploying new fixed wing search and rescue aircraft at those two sites and upgrading fighter aircraft at Cold Lake.

What steps has the minister taken to implement this promise? How much will it cost to carry out the promise? Has the money for this promise been booked in either of the last two budgets?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, the CF-18 fleet has been upgraded and it will continue to be upgraded for a number of years more. That has already been processed and, in the member's terms, the money is booked.

With respect to search and rescue aircraft, as I have said on a number of occasions, the air force is looking at their options of what they want to do to replace their current fleet of aircraft in the future and they have not arrived at a conclusion at this time.

[Blair Wilson, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Mr. Chair, before I begin my questions I would like to acknowledge and salute the hard work our brave men and women in uniform are doing in Canada, in Afghanistan and throughout the globe. All Canadians are deeply grateful for the tremendous sacrifices our soldiers and their families make on a daily basis. On behalf of the people of my riding of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, I thank them.

On May 7, the government announced that it was purchasing six Husky, five Buffalo and five Cougar 6x6 vehicles in order to better equip Canadian troops to address the threat of improvised explosive devices. However, on May 4 Force Protection Inc. issued a release announcing the purchase.

Would the minister please tell us why Canadians first learned about this purchase through the American firm instead of the Canadian government?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON]

Mr. Chair, I do not think it matters how it was learned. It is a matter of government processes. However, I think the benefit to the forces of having these five teams of vehicles, they run in teams of three to find IEDs and save lives in Afghanistan, is an excellent acquisition. We acquired them because the American forces pulled out their vehicles and we had to replace them with ours.