Debates of May 17th, 2007

National Defence—Main Estimates 2007-08

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Commissioner of Official Languages stated that the best a unilingual francophone soldier could hope for is to be an infantry soldier at Valcartier. What can the minister say to francophones to prove that the Commissioner of Official Languages was wrong?

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

Mr. Chair, I am not going to contend what the commissioner said or did not say. The career possibilities for francophones in the military is the same as anglophones. The member can check throughout the entire structure and he will see francophones right up to the top of the armed forces.

I will also point out that the language commissioner gave us an A for our plan and, on radio yesterday, he commended our efforts.

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak about the Bagotville base. I also spoke briefly about the Cold Lake base.

At present, two military bases, Cold Lake and Bagotville, have F-18s. The Cold Lake base is responsible for western Canada, as far as Winnipeg. The Bagotville base covers the remaining territory or eastern Canada. The two bases must cover roughly the same area but do not have the same number of aircraft. The Cold Lake base has 58 F-18s whereas the Bagotville base has 24.

Given that there is a training facility at Cold Lake, and that the Bagotville base is far away, would it not be better to balance out the F-18 fleet to better protect Canadian territory?

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

Mr. Chair, the reason that there are more aircraft in Cold Lake is that the training squadron is there. Both operational squadrons meet our Canadian air defence needs. In fact, they have over the years had outstanding performance and they are a pride to us when we meet with our American compatriots in Norad.

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Chair, I do not want to bring up bad memories for the minister, but could he talk about the situation of the detainees handed over to Afghan authorities?

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

Mr. Chair, I mentioned earlier that the defence department, once it has processed detainees and handed them over to the Afghan authorities, that is where the defence department's responsibility ends.

Other agents of government will be involved in the monitoring. However, for every detainee who is handed over to the Afghan authorities or for every detainee who is released by us, the human rights commission is informed and we inform the Red Cross so that they can monitor them.

As members know, under the new agreement, the human rights commission will have full access to all our detainees.

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Chair, I have some more specific questions for the minister. How many detainees have been transferred since 2002? How many detainees have been transferred since 2005 inclusively? How many detainees were transferred in 2005, 2006 and 2007?

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

Mr. Chair, as I said earlier to another questioner, these are operational matters and I do not discuss operational matters on TV.

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Chair, my next questions also deal with detainees. Where are these detainees? How many detention centres are they being held in? How many detention centres will eventually be used for Canadian detainees?

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

Mr. Chair, I can answer part of the question in the sense that I do not provide details on prisoners. That is operational. However, on the other part of the question dealing with the number of detainee centres and the number of detainees who are in the hands of Canadians, the member will have to ask the foreign affairs minister. I think his officials are working on that now.

[Robert Bouchard, Bloc, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Chair, this will be my last question to do with detainees. Have they been visited? If not, when will they be?

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

Mr. Chair, the member is bringing up the idea of monitoring prisoners and I have said that it is not within the responsibility of the defence department.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with 10 minutes of speaking and leaving five minutes for questions and comments.

As the member of Parliament for Renfrew--Nipissing--Pembroke, which includes Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, I am pleased to participate in the debate on the 2007-08 main estimates for the Department of National Defence.

I am proud to be a member of a government that strongly supports our men and women in uniform and more particularly, to serve with a Prime Minister who has so clearly demonstrated his compassion and respect for the women and men of the Canadian armed forces.

Last Friday, the town of Petawawa held a Red Friday rally in support of our troops. Little did I know that when I invited the Prime Minister to join us in Petawawa, we would also be hosting the Minister of National Defence and the chief of defence staff. Their presence meant a lot to the soldiers and their families. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them. I would also like to thank Lisa Miller and Karen Boire, the organizers of Red Fridays across the country. Their heart and passion does their community proud.

I am full of pride to be part of a national government that strongly supports our women and men in uniform. These Canadians serve our country with incredible professionalism, dedication and courage. There are none more deserving of our support than the very people who are willing to put their lives on the line for their fellow citizens and their country.

The exceptional commitment of some of our military members was recently recognized at a ceremony at the Chateau Laurier. I would like to draw this committee's attention to that event because I think it speaks volumes about the men and women who make up our military.

Back in 1993, Her Majesty created a series of new decorations to recognize military valour: the Canadian Victoria Cross, the Star of Military Valour and the Medal of Military Valour. For 13 years none of these medals had been awarded, given the distinction that they represent. None of them had been awarded that is until last fall.

The first presentation of these medals was right here in Ottawa in February. They were awarded because the soldiers who were the recipients exhibited the highest degree of valour in the most dangerous of situations. Those acts of courage happened in Afghanistan.

Our military members have not been exposed to such deadly combat situations since the Korean War. Their stories, and others like them, need to be told. All Canadians need to be reminded of the incredible work our armed forces are doing for our country.

The recent experience of Hannah Doyle of Pembroke, who had the opportunity to go to France as a member of a group of young people who participated in the anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, is an example of how important it is to impart the stories that contribute to our shared heritage of nation building.

In particular, we as elected representatives need to be reminded of the exceptional service both veterans and currently serving members and their spouses have made to this country. When the time comes to review our defence spending, as this committee is doing today, we need to be prepared to do our utmost to support our military members and their families.

When I refer to supporting military spouses at this time I make special mention of the widows of our soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country. I recognize Jackie Girouard, Charmaine Tedford, Darcy Mitton and Kelly-Ann Dove, just to name a few of the spouses I have had the pleasure of meeting. The widows tell me that the honourable way to respect their sacrifice is to continue the mission, recognizing the noble cause that Canada is involved in.

One way that we as parliamentarians can preserve the memory of our fallen soldiers is to ensure that their serving comrades continue to receive the support and the financial resources they need to get the job done.

As my colleagues gather here today, the Department of National Defence has a budget of just under $17 billion for the 2007-08 fiscal year in recognition of the role a credible military presence plays in demonstrating nationhood and sovereignty, recognition that has been lacking until our government took charge in budget 2006. The department received a much needed boost of $5.3 billion over five years to help rebuild and revitalize the Canadian armed forces.

As a result, for the fiscal year, the defence budget will go up by $2.1 billion and under the government, the budget for capital projects has now gone up to 21% of the overall department program. We are investing some of the funding in new equipment because the government recognizes that our military personnel need to have the right tools to do their jobs.

I had the privilege recently of taking part in a plant tour of Pacific Safety Products, an all-Canadian company located in Arnprior, Ontario. This company manufactures a safety vest that protects our soldiers in places like Afghanistan. Canadians are proud to be able to assist in providing the right equipment to keep our soldiers safe. It is made here in Canada right here in the Ottawa Valley.

Some of these funds are being used to recruit and train Canadian Forces members, so that the military has enough people to meet the current and future demands, but this government has not forgotten that we also need to allocate sufficient resources to provide for a good quality of life for our military members and their families. It is important to the families, the spouses and the dependents to keep the home fires burning.

I would like to provide this committee with some recent examples of how this government is making a difference in the lives of our armed forces.

First of all, just last month, the government announced plans to construct a new multipurpose facility in St. John's. This new facility will bring together operational training space, offices, classrooms, special medical and dental services, and a warehouse space in one location. Quite simply, the facility will better support our troops and it will also stand as a sign of this government's commitment to maintain a vital military presence in the region.

Also in Atlantic Canada, this government announced plans last October to improve the heating systems at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, to make it more cost effective and environmentally friendly. The department is spending just over $1 million to convert all heating and hot water tanks in the military housing units on base to natural gas.

This money will be put directly back into our soldiers' pockets, saving them around $200 a year in home heating costs. Moreover, it will make a significant contribution to improving the air quality of New Brunswick and the surrounding region.

However, it is not only through infrastructure improvements that we are taking care of the Canadian Forces. We have also provided pay and allowance increases across the ranks.

Furthermore, just this past spring, the Minister of National Defence announced the implementation of modernized Canadian Forces pension plan arrangements. Now, all eligible Canadian Forces members, both regular and reserve, have pension coverage that is comparable to the pension plans of other federal public sector employees. This means that for the first time our reserve forces are entitled to coverage under the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act.

We have also made it possible for reservists to contribute and earn benefits from the Canada pension plan. They too should be able to collect a pension that will allow them to prepare for retirement and provide their families with basic financial protection.

There is no question that Canada asks a lot of its military and their families. In addition to their regular burdens of military service, there are times when our Canadian Forces members have to put themselves in harm's way to defend our country, so we also have a responsibility to look after our Canadian Forces members when they get wounded in combat or fall ill from the conditions in an operational theatre.

The new allowance for loss of operational allowance, or ALOA, which the Minister of National Defence announced in December 2006 will ensure that those military members who have to return to Canada because of injury or illness continue to be compensated adequately. Let me explain.

Members serving in a theatre of operations, like Afghanistan, receive special deployment hardship and risk allowances. This new allowance will make sure that if the deployment of military personnel is cut short due to injury or illness, they will not be financially penalized.

Now they will receive this new allowance in place of their special deployment allowances up until the last day of their planned tour of duty. For example, if a soldier is deployed on a six month tour and is wounded after one month, he would receive the ALOA for the five remaining months. This new allowance will mitigate the burden faced by members and their families when other operational allowances cease.

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I will stop the hon. member there. Her time for her statement is over. If she has a question that she wants to move on to, we can move into the question period of her time slot.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Chair. I am very proud that this government continues to stand firmly behind our armed forces. They deserve nothing less.

My question is for the parliamentary secretary of defence. Canadian Forces Base Petawawa has provided important contingents of Canadian troops to the Afghanistan mission. To date, some 2,000 troops from base Petawawa have been deployed to Afghanistan: 1,500 recently returned; another 500 began a tour of duty last month; and another 1,000 are due to go in August 2008.

The Ontario ombudsman launched an investigation in March, after receiving a complaint from the executive director of the Phoenix Centre, the only children's mental health centre serving residents in Renfrew county, and that includes CFB Petawawa, that the provincial government was failing to provide adequate mental health services for military children. The Phoenix Centre reported that the demand for psychological counselling had grown from just 2% of its cases to 20% since August 2006, and children were being forced to wait four to six months for treatment.

As the Phoenix Centre struggles to help children traumatized by their parents' deployment, an issue Canada has not had to deal with since the Korean war, many health staff at Petawawa worry that the challenge has just begun, not only in their community but for the military families and communities across the country.

What the Ontario ombudsman recommended was for the federal and provincial governments to sit down in an attempt to determine what was needed and how the costs could be split up instead of leaving it entirely up to the province. If this does not happen, the ombudsman has already warned the situation could easily revert to its initial stage and this would spell disaster to the Petawawa community. I am sure all members will agree we have a moral duty to provide the best health services possible for our children in support of their parents in uniform.

Would the parliamentary secretary of defence please inform the House of what the federal government is doing to assist provincial governments with military communities, especially with regard to the Phoenix Centre for Petawawa, and could he elaborate more generally on what support is being provided to military families?

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

Mr. Chair, the Canadian Forces have worked hard to support our troops and to ensure they have what they need both physically and emotionally. Our troops are deploying in record numbers and we know sometimes all too well, how that affects their families. The health and well-being of our military families is a top concern of our government and that is why the families of the Canadian Forces members are active and contributing citizens in the communities in which they live and we want to keep them that way.

Military families are entitled to access all the health, social, educational and recreational services available to all individuals in the local community, including the use of the mental health facilities. Military family resource centres are the primary source of services and programs designed to assist and support families of Canadian Forces members during deployments. Where services specific to the needs of the military community are inadequate or unavailable, the Department of National Defence will work with the military family resource centres in the local community to meet those needs.

Specific to the situation with the Phoenix Centre in—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I am afraid the hon. parliamentary secretary has run the clock out on that time slot, so I will have to move on to the hon. member for Labrador.

[Todd Russell, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine and the member for Mississauga—Erindale. We will each be asking questions for five minutes.

I come from a military town, Five Wing Goose Bay, which has over 65 years of history in the Canadian armed forces. The minister made many promises to the town of Happy Valley Goose Bay and Five Wing Goose Bay during two elections.

The Conservatives promised Canada's first strategy for Arctic sovereignty would include a deepwater port, armed naval icebreakers and a long range squadron for CFB Goose Bay. The deepwater port has been deep-sixed and the icebreakers were cancelled.

Is there anything left of the Arctic sovereignty platform, including the Goose Bay component? If there is, when will the plan be tabled?

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

Mr. Chair, we will be meeting our commitments to the north. Like everything else, once the government has considered it and once it is approved by government, announcements will be made.

[Todd Russell, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Chair, On November 8, Major General Ward told the defence committee that there really had not been specific action taken on the Goose Bay initiative.

Why is DND, under this minister, doing absolutely nothing to implement its 650 RRB and 100 UAV squadron in Goose Bay?

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

Mr. Chair, as I said previously, we will be meeting our commitments. However, I point out that the previous government was planning to close Goose Bay. It put in a few sops to try to get itself out of the problem.

We are maintaining Goose Bay.

[Todd Russell, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Chair, I would ask the minister to table any documentation he has to that effect instead of his innuendo.

Lieutenant-General Leslie said at the defence committee that the Goose Bay organization would be focused mainly on range of support. Is this range of support on top of the UAV squadron and RRB or is this a replacement for them?

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

Mr. Chair, when the government makes the decision on precise commitments, the announcements will be made.

[Todd Russell, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Chair, the minister made precise commitments. It was an RRB and a UAV squadron for Goose Bay. He said that the creation of these units would take place over as short a period of time as possible.

Even though it has been over a year with no action on Goose Bay, could the minister define what he means by “as short a period of time as possible”?

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

Mr. Chair, we have a great challenge. We inherited it from the previous government. We are rebuilding the entire armed forces, the air force, the army, the navy and all the base structure, and things have to be done in sequence.

We do not have enough money to do everything at the same time. We will be meeting our commitments to Goose Bay.