Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to participate in this debate. I wish it were about some other subject matter, but it is what it is. I see it as nothing more and nothing less than a vicious attack on the integrity of our Minister of National Defence.
Canadians should know that this is the hon. Minister of National Defence, PC, OMM, MSM, CD, MP. He is a minister whom the Conservatives have devoted an entire day to attacking. Apparently, there was nothing else in this country to discuss other than the integrity of this very honourable man.
He was a police officer with the Vancouver Police Department, and he was not there just to hand out tickets. He was very involved in investigating gangs and drug trafficking, certainly the most difficult of the most difficult policing tasks.
Simultaneously, he was a reserve officer. He did four tours, one in Bosnia and Herzegovina and three in Afghanistan. Canadians should know what all those letters behind his name mean.
His fellow soldiers and commanding officer recognized his immense contributions to the forces by awarding him the following: Officer of Military Merit, awarded in October 2012 and invested in June 2014; Meritorious Service Medal, military division, awarded in August 2012; South-West Asia Service Medal, with clasp Afghanistan; General Campaign Star, with South-West Asia ribbon and two rotation bars; Mention in Dispatches, awarded in June 2008; NATO service medal for former Yugoslavia; Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal; two Queen Elizabeth II jubilee medals; Canadian Forces' Decoration, one clasp; Commendation Medal from the United States of America; chief of the defence staff commendation; and a deputy minister award from the Department of National Defence.
I have had the honour of standing with the minister at various military occasions, whether on a ship, on a wing, or in the base. I have to say, I am incredibly proud to have stood with and beside this minister. When he stands there with his rack of medals, the soldiers, the airmen, and the flyers all know that this is legitimate stuff. In fact, his service goes beyond the awards of these decorations.
I forgot to mention that I am splitting my time with the hon. member for Kanata—Carleton.
Because of the minister's extensive service, when he walks into the Pentagon, or into the department of defence in Germany or Great Britain, there are warm handshakes and slaps on the back, because he knows these people. He has served with these people. He is respected by these people, and there is not one of them who has said anything about the subject matter of this debate today.
He made the unfortunate choice of using the word “architect” in a recent speech, but we should first of all notice that those who have been denouncing him have all been anonymous so far.
Second, he has apologized not just once, not just 10 times, not just 20, and no apology seems to be sufficient. The opposition members have devoted an entire day to trying to destroy his reputation, but unlike his anonymous critics, critics who have not served in Afghanistan, who have not served in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who have not patrolled the streets of Vancouver, there are some who have spoken up, for instance his commanding officer in Afghanistan, General Fraser.
He said:
He was the best single Canadian intelligence asset in theatre, and his hard work, personal bravery, and dogged determination undoubtedly saved a multitude of Coalition lives. Through his courage and dedication, [the minister] has single-handedly changed the face of intelligence gathering and analysis in Afghanistan.
He went on to say:
He tirelessly and selflessly devoted himself to piecing together the ground truth on tribal and Taliban networks in the Kandahar area, and his analysis was so compelling that it drove a number of large scale theatre-resourced efforts, including OPERATION MEDUSA, a large scale conventional combat operation that resulted in the defeat of the largest TB insurgent cell yet identified in Afghanistan, with over 1500 Taliban killed or captured.
As if that is not enough, he went on further to say:
I rate him as one of the best intelligence officers I have ever worked with--fearless, smart, and personable, and I would not hesitate to have him on my staff at any time in the future. I have advised my chain of command that the Canadian Forces must capture his skillset, and seek his advice on how to change our entire tactical intelligence training and architecture to best meet the needs of future deployed units fighting in extremely complex battle space.
Others have spoken up. One is retired British army Colonel Chris Vernon. He was chief of the headquarters that ran Operation Medusa. He was one below General Fraser. He acknowledged the major role that was put together by the Minister of National Defence. He said:
...without [the minister's] input as a critical player, major player, a pivotal player I’d say, Medusa wouldn’t have happened. We wouldn’t have the intelligence and the tribal picture to put the thing together.
Why are we debating the difference between “the” and “an”? The words used are “integral”, “critical”, “no single architect planning cell”. Without this picture, I do not think it would have happened. He spoke the language to go where we could not go.
The stolen valour is from whom? Is it from General Fraser? I do not think it is General Fraser. Is it from Colonel Vernon? Is it from his colleagues in the planning of Operation Medusa? The over-the-top enthusiasm on the part of the opposition is nothing more and nothing less than an attempt to destroy the reputation of an honourable man.
We have among us a genuine Canadian hero, and he has done nothing worse than what we would reasonably describe as a verbal miscue. It has backfired on the Conservatives because now they know that we have the quality of the man and the depth of his contribution and experience in this role.
I have always been honoured to stand beside the minister, and I am even more honoured to do so today. The Minister of National Defence is being attacked by people who know little or nothing about his role and the complexities of battle.
After he has apologized dozens of times for misspeaking, we have to start to wonder whether this is about the apology or about the ones who are asking for the apology, because apparently no apology will be good enough.
Frankly, I find it quite disappointing that we should spend an entire day debating the character of an honourable man, who has been described by his commanding officer and the chief of staff, from their observations while under intense pressure, as a “soldier's soldier”. It is a shame to watch the opposition attack a soldier's soldier.