House of Commons Hansard #56 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Mr. Chair, I think what I am hearing is that they will now have training at the same level as the regular force so that they are better prepared to support deployments.
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Mr. Chair, when it comes to the reserves, we have to be mindful that reserves are part time. They should not be expected to train at the level of the regular force, because the regular force is full time; that is their job.
In the reserves, it is about maintaining a level of capability so that when they are called upon, they can be selected DAG green. DAG is departure assistance group, green, and then they go through a series of pre-deployment training, and the length of time depends on deployment. Then they are able to make it up to the level of the regular forces before they go on operation. That is what the reserves are there to do.
When they are class B, it is different because they are working full time, but then they are expected to be at a higher capability as their regular force partners are.
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Mr. Chair, since the AG report, which specific types of equipment do the reservists now have access to in order to be self-sufficient?
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Mr. Chair, it all depends on what type of unit we are talking about, whether they are armoured, artillery, infantry, comms, and then we get the naval reserves as well.
We go through a series of procurement plans that support the reserves. In particular, I can talk to you directly about the G wagon, which provides the capability for armoured reconnaissance units in the reserves, but we are in the process of replacing that in the future.
We look at many different capabilities, but we have to ensure they have not only have the capability for today. As part of the defence review, we need to make sure that our reserves can be modernized for future threats as well.
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Mr. Chair, will reservists receive resilience training before and after deployment, and will they have access to mental health programs after deployment as well?
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Mr. Chair, when reservists go on operations, they become class E. It is the equivalent of being part of the regular force, and they get all the services and benefits of all members on deployment. It is included as part of the pre-deployment training, and when the individual returns they get the post-deployment benefits as well, from decompression to leave and all the required medical needs as well.
If a member of the reserves is injured and the injuries last, they remain on contract so that they can stay and get paid. They pretty much stay on contract until they are well enough to go back to civilian life.
Jean Rioux Liberal Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Chair, thank you for giving me this opportunity to debate the main estimates of the Department of National Defence for 2016-17.
It is of the utmost importance that Canada focus on maximizing human resource development in the military. Education and training are inexhaustible resources that enable the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces to develop superior skill sets.
Be it for college or university education, or even advanced master's or doctoral studies, members of Canada's military all have access to academic training. We have highly skilled, top-tier teachers. Our facilities and infrastructure support this work.
Our military personnel have many professional development options. During their years of service, they take part in many training sessions to enhance their technical skills. Personal development workshops equip them with the right tools to ensure that the Canadian Armed Forces have highly skilled, well-prepared professionals who can overcome the challenges they face. They have to be able to adapt physically and intellectually, and all the training they receive during their years of service supports them in achieving their objectives.
From the moment they join the army to their final year of service, all members of the Canadian Armed Forces take part in ongoing training and continuing professional development. Depending on needs, they may also pursue academic studies to help them play an active role in our constantly changing world.
Training is a recurring theme in the life of a Canadian Armed Forces member. It is clear that this ongoing training enables Canadian military personnel to fulfill their operational roles. Training helps place our armed forces among the most educated and skilled in the world.
To promote the value of continuous skill development and to oversee all aspects of academic, linguistic, professional, and technical training, we have the Canadian Defence Academy. Its mandate is to champion lifelong learning and to promote the professional development of members of the Canadian Armed Forces. The Canadian Defence Academy is an education group composed of the Royal Military College of Canada, the Royal Military College Saint-Jean, and the Canadian Forces College.
The mission of the Royal Military College of Canada is to produce officers with the mental, physical, and linguistic capabilities and the ethical foundation required to lead with distinction in the Canadian Armed Forces. To accomplish this mission, it delivers undergraduate academic programs, together with a range of complementary programs in both official languages.
Founded in 1874 for the purpose of providing a complete education to all branches of the military, RMC provides undergraduate and post-graduate programs and professional development education to meet the needs of other members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence. Training at RMC focuses on fundamental educational notions that allow soldiers to hone their skills so that they can become respected leaders in Canada.
This education group also includes the Royal Military College Saint-Jean. For the moment, that institution is focusing on offering programs that allow students to obtain a college diploma. Students can enrol and take post-secondary courses in social sciences and natural sciences. This academic institution, which is extremely important to the riding of Saint-Jean, was founded in 1952. Over the years, the college has undergone major changes in direction. By adapting to the needs of the Canadian Armed Forces, it has always managed to offer quality military training activities. Although a break between 1995 and 2008 left its mark on the institution's academic mandate, RMC Saint-Jean has constantly reinvented itself.
The year 2008 marked a new beginning for this educational institution, which remains a true national symbol. Royal Military College Saint-Jean is located on the site of Fort Saint-Jean, a heritage site that has borne witness to the vast military history of the French and British regimes as well as that of Canada.
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, which is celebrating its 350th anniversary as a garrison town this year, is proud to be able to count on this prestigious establishment that educates the members of the Canadian Armed Forces in order to instil in them the competencies required to maintain excellence in the profession of arms.
The time has come to restore the college to its former glory so that it can actively participate in maintaining our troops' expertise and supporting the Canadian government in redefining its military mission.
Canada's return to its fundamental principles fits in quite well with the university status that the Royal Military College Saint-Jean wants to acquire. The humanities and social sciences program will help train leaders with the abilities to engage in conflict resolution.
Recent Canadian military interventions in the world have demonstrated the importance of having sound university training in anthropology, social sciences, foreign languages and cultures, ethics, and philosophy. Those studies would not conflict with the direction of the Royal Military College in Kingston. What is more, choosing that direction for its programs would lay the foundation for future development at RMC Saint-Jean, since these modular programs meet the growing needs of the Canadian Armed Forces.
The university culture is still present in Fort Saint-Jean. The professors continue to do research and regularly share with other Canadian and international university institutions. This is a way of connecting the forces involved in order to give Canada a second institution that will help maintain a representative francophone presence in the Canadian Armed Forces and the defence staff, thereby contributing to maintaining our identity in Canada.
The college has proven valuable many times by providing a francophone military learning environment and promoting bilingualism and linguistic diversity in the army. Resuming university training will help promote better recruitment of francophones, allophones, and anglophones in Quebec and across Canada to RMC Saint-Jean.
With the increasing demands of peacekeeping operations in francophone African countries and in light of our recent experiences in Haiti, it is clear that bilingualism is an important skill that Canada's army brings to the international stage.
The third component of the Canadian Defence Academy is the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. It prepares senior military and civilian leaders to meet the complex security challenges of the future. The college is known as a world leader in defence and security education, research, and outreach. The college provides joint advanced professional military education for officers of the Canadian Armed Forces and senior government executives in a bilingual environment through programs of study focusing on national security and joint staff operations and command.
Since we are faced with a significant challenge, we must be able to adapt our forces to respond to all types of intervention. However, first, we must ensure that our forces have the resources they need. Recruitment in all forms is therefore an absolute priority. We will have to put special emphasis on our reserve force and support the Canadian cadet program.
Our reservists make a very important and valuable contribution to Canada's security. As a government, we must work to attract, develop, support, and retain a ready, capable, motivated, and relevant reserve as a strategic and operational resource. Reserve members are highly skilled and they have proven to be essential resources in helping the Canadian Armed Forces achieve their objectives.
The reserve units, which are present in more than 100 Canadian communities, work on the front lines, supporting the regular forces. The cadet program continues to evolve and adapt to meet the expectations of our changing society. With its emphasis on leadership, physical fitness, and citizenship, the Canadian cadet program helps young Canadians to become active and engaged members of their communities and prepares them to become the leaders of tomorrow.
This program has some direct benefits for Canadian society. It promotes our society's fundamental values and trains well-rounded, community-minded young people. These young people from all walks of life, dressed in the Canadian uniform, will become responsible, respected citizens, and some will even decide to join the Canadian Armed Forces.
We have to understand that we are asking the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces to take on an extremely difficult task. Our world has changed so radically that the only thing we know for sure is that we have to prepare for every eventuality.
It is very clear to me that quality education and ongoing training are not only essential to enabling them to accomplish that task, but also critical to the Canadian Army's overall operational readiness.
As I am sure the minister knows, Royal Military College Saint-Jean is planning to offer university studies in the humanities. This innovative university program is closely aligned with the Canadian Armed Forces' needs.
Canada's recent military interventions around the world have all demonstrated the importance of solid university training in anthropology, social sciences, foreign languages and cultures, ethics, and philosophy.
RMC Saint-Jean officials have chosen an approach that optimizes the use of existing infrastructure and human resources. This approach will also improve the effectiveness of the regular training for officer cadets and the ongoing training both on site and remotely of non-commissioned officers on active duty. Because of its unique offerings, RMC Saint-Jean will attract more francophones, anglophones, and allophones from Quebec and the rest of Canada.
Minister, what do you see as RMC Saint-Jean's role in light of a new focus for the Canadian Armed Forces' mission and the promotion of the French fact?
The Assistant Deputy Chair Liberal Anthony Rota
I would like to remind hon. members to address their remarks through the Chair.
The hon. Minister of National Defence.
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Mr. Chair, having two official languages, French being one of them obviously, if we want to attract the best and brightest from the region, we have to take a look at different options. The Royal Military College Saint-Jean is one option. We have reviewed it extensively. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. I am hoping to have the answer very shortly.
Jean Rioux Liberal Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Chair, reservists make a significant and crucial contribution to increasing Canada's defence capability. In deployments of the Canadian Armed Forces, approximately 20% of the members are reservists.
Furthermore, with reserve units located in more than 100 Canadian cities, reservists are on the front lines in their communities and have the ability to effectively meet the needs of their fellow Canadians.
Can the minister tell us how training for army reserve soldiers is integrated into training for the regular force?
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Mr. Chair, there are many aspects of how the training is integrated. It starts with basic training. The core foundation of reserve training is the level of training that the regular force gets. We train up to a certain level. As I stated earlier in response to previous questions, when it comes to operations, whether domestic or international, reservists are selected through the chain of command and then given theatre-specific training or domestic operations training before they take part in any type of operation. It is a system that has worked well in the past, but we are looking at ways to improve it as well.
Jean Rioux Liberal Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Chair, considering that the Canadian Cadet Corps empowers youth from all backgrounds in a stimulating, friendly, and safe environment; that it gives them a unique opportunity to learn essential skills that will equip them to approach the labour market with optimism; and that, with its intrinsic values, the institution encourages achievement and community involvement that enable all young cadets to become better citizens and, in some cases, to join the army, does the minister plan to encourage the promotion of this movement by supporting recruitment and providing practical ways to help even more young Canadians benefit from the many activities provided by cadet organizations and also encourage people to enlist in the Canadian Armed Forces?
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Mr. Chair, the cadet program, in my opinion, is one of the best leadership programs in the country. It provides leadership regardless of whatever skills the cadets may choose in the future. It is something we in the regular force can actually learn from, because the diversity the cadets have in some of their units is unique. They end up recruiting as representative of the population, and we can learn from some of their methods.
Alupa Clarke Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Mr. Chair, I am pleased to rise this evening. I would like to start by seeking the unanimous consent of the members of this committee of the whole to share my time with the member for Yorkton—Melville.
The Assistant Deputy Chair Liberal Anthony Rota
Does the member have the unanimous consent of the committee?
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Some hon. members
Agreed.
Alupa Clarke Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Mr. Chair, of course the Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs Canada share many ties. I am pleased to speak to this committee of the whole as the official opposition critic for Veterans Affairs. The ties between the two departments stem from the fact that all soldiers will one day become veterans, and any cuts made to the Department of National Defence will have a direct impact on the well-being of our veterans.
I am a member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs. We are currently conducting three studies, specifically one on service delivery, one on mental health, and one on the transition from military to civilian life. My goal is to ask the minister and his officials a few questions and to get some answers in real time to some of the questions pertaining to our studies at the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.
The three topics I want to address with the minister have to do with the integrated personnel support centres, the veterans family centre pilot project, and finally, the medical diagnostics done by the Canadian Armed Forces medical corps.
The integrated personnel support centres were created to mentor serving members who are released from the Canadian Armed Forces. Soldiers sometimes have to leave the military because of mental or physical injuries that prevent them from meeting the demands of their job and the more general requirements of the department, such as the principle of universality of service.
These integrated personnel support centres have been in operation for a number of years now and so it is necessary to determine whether the mentoring is meeting its objective of preparing members to be released or sometimes helping them to fully reintegrate into their regiment, unit, or occupation.
My questions on this topic are as follows. First, could the minister tell me what is the total budget allocated by the Department of National Defence to all integrated personnel support centres?
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Mr. Chair, the budget is $17.5 million for JPSU, but I think it deserves a broader answer. I absolutely agree with the member that we should be assessing our delivery constantly to make sure we keep up with the needs. In fact, that is the one thing the chief of the defence staff has done as part of his review. He is making sure that the JPSU stays linked with the chain of command, because it is an integral portion. Members can go back.
When I was in Val Cartier, there was one member who was injured. He was shot in the leg and he did not want to be released. He was able to recover, do all of the tests, and go back into the unit. I had the honour of actually promoting him. It shows that the system does work, that the chain of command is compassionate and responsive. Regardless, we need to constantly assess to make sure we provide the right delivery for our members.
Alupa Clarke Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Mr. Chair, can the minister tell us what the budget is for each of those centres or does the budget vary from one military base to another?
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Mr. Chair, I do not have the exact answer about which budget, but I want to make sure we keep it responsive. Instead of trying to manage which budget, it will allow the chain of command to come up with that function on its own. There are 24 centres, but we need to make sure it is agile. We need to decentralize with that relationship, because at the end of the day, it is JPSU and its staff and the chain of command that know their troops the best. I trust in the chain of command to make sure that the right resources are allocated and that flexibility is better done at the lower levels.
Alupa Clarke Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Mr. Chair, many veterans have told me on many different occasions about the problems in those centres. For example, there is not enough senior staff to mentor the members at the centres.
Does the department plan to increase the budget for these centres so that they can increase the number of senior staff who are there with the soldiers and officers?
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Mr. Chair, the staff of the JPSU is obviously being assessed, but we can take it much broader than that. It is making sure that we have that transition piece when we are talking about JPSU and the units. We need to do more on the preventative side. If we focus within the units and prevent people getting into the JPSU, that is even better success. However, at the same time, we do need to make sure that they have the right resources, and this will be an ongoing assessment within JPSU. We have identified a few that we are working on and if the needs do change, we will adjust accordingly.
Alupa Clarke Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Mr. Chair, I understand that we need to focus on prevention, but we also need to act immediately. Some of the members at these centres right now need more mentoring and staff.
How many suicides have occurred in these centres since they opened?
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
Mr. Chair, when it comes to suicides in 2015, we had 15 regular force members and three reserve force members. However, at the end of the day, one is too many and we need to do our utmost to make sure that our members have the right resources. The JPSU chain of command and the work that we try to do with myself and the Minister of Veterans Affairs is all part of that. As I said, we owe it to our men and women to make sure they have the right resources for the challenges they face, and one is too many.
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Conservative
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
Mr. Chair, in my maiden speech in December, I shared how proud I was to have met so many veterans while I was on the campaign trail and how proud I was to be serving at the deputy critic for Veterans Affairs and working on the committee where all of us really do want to make a difference for our armed forces and our veterans.
The comments I heard in coffee shops, at the doors from service groups and legions all reflected the same values and the same concerns for people who cared more than any others about our Canadian Armed Forces, and that is our veterans.
What did they say to me? They said that over the last while the issues of the new veterans charter had been improving, but still a great deal more needed to be done to improve the care for our seriously injured soldiers, veterans, and their families.
Second, with their confidence in seeing our previous Conservative government spend 10 years repairing the damage, increasing the budget for National Defence from $14.5 billion in 2005-06 to over $20 billion in 2014-15, investing in tanks, helicopters, planes, extending the life of CF-18s, modernizing, refurbishing and upgrading, starting the national shipbuilding program, and allocating over $1 billion in infrastructure investment in bases and stations. I am pleased to see that we are continuing these procurement programs, although I am hearing $3.7 billion will be there if needed,
Over and over again, I heard those same veterans saying that we must never go back to the disrespect and lack of support and appreciation for our Canadian Armed Forces that was the decade of darkness under the previous Liberal government.
Could the Minister of National Defence please explain why the previous Conservative government was able to accomplish so much to restore the confidence of the veterans in my riding, while navigating our country through the worst global recession since the Great Depression and bringing taxes to the lowest level in 50 years, yet the Liberal government, with over a $7 billion surplus, not only could not find any new money for Armed Forces in the Speech from the Throne, but also found it necessary to cut spending for the brave men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces who put their lives at risk to protect our security, our sovereignty, and our freedoms?