Debates of Dec. 9th, 2019

Supplementary Estimates (A), 2019-20

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The minister might as well stay on his feet because we are resuming debate.

The hon. Minister of National Defence.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Congratulations once again, Mr. Chair. I think this is our fourth time in committee of the whole together.

It has been an absolute privilege and an honour to be reappointed as the Minister of National Defence to serve our women and men in the Canadian Armed Forces. As I stated to many members, I welcome input from all members of Parliament in the House when it comes to serving our Canadian Armed Forces members.

I am eager to continue to implement Canada's defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged.

Strong, Secure, Engaged is a rigorously costed and funded transparent vision for the next 20 years of our Canadian Armed Forces. We are increasing our spending by 70% to ensure that our women and men in uniform have what they need to do the important job that we ask of them.

Our work is not just about defence. It is about positioning Canada for success in an uncertain world. Canadians know that we cannot be an island of stability in an ocean of turmoil. Eventually those negative ripples of conflict will reach our shores. It is about promoting the values and interests that are core to Canada's prosperity and security. It is about standing with our partners and allies as we put Canada's expertise to work on a global scale.

Today, through our supplementary estimates, I am requesting $463.6 million for national defence so the Canadian Armed Forces can continue their work. I make this request confident in the benefits and flexibility of the defence funding model. We only ask for funds when we need them. We make adjustments as requirements evolve. Savings are reallocated and earmarked funding is protected until we are ready to spend it. We do not leave money on the table. These supplementary funds will allow us to continue implementing Canada's defence policy, directly supporting our people and their families, expanding our capabilities and equipping our defence team to address the threats of the modern security environment.

First, we must invest in our people and their families. A resilient, inclusive and diverse defence team is critical to Canada's security and we are proud of our progress to support our people.

Just this summer, Bill C-77 received royal assent, marking a historic evolution of the military justice system and enshrining rights for victims into that system. We are working to right past wrongs as well.

The Canada pride citations are a tangible way to recognize the contributions of former LGBTQ2 members whose service careers were cut short due to discriminatory policies.

Two weeks ago, the Federal Court approved the final settlement agreement of the Canadian Armed Forces DND sexual misconduct class action lawsuit. We hope this settlement will bring closure, healing and acknowledgement to our members who were harmed by sexual misconduct in the workplace.

These are just a few of our efforts to ensure a safe, welcoming and inclusive workplace.

We also recognize the critical jobs our reservists play, which is why we restructured reserve pay to better align with the regular force, ensuring the same pay for the same day's work.

Last year, we reintroduced the veteran's service card and set up the Canadian Armed Forces transition group to better support armed forces members and their families alongside their journey.

We will be building on these initiatives. We are requesting just over $179 million in voting and statutory appropriations to fund recruitment, retention and other initiatives to support our people and their families, including competitive salaries and benefits, training and expanded transition resources. Investing in our people is not only the right thing to do, but it is necessary to grow our defence team to the size it needs to be to face the challenges of tomorrow, something we promised in SSE.

Taking care of people also means equipping them to do their jobs. This summer I was pleased to announce $250 million to upgrade reserve infrastructures across Canada over the next five years.

So far in 2019-20, we have invested over $440 million in major construction and maintenance and repair projects. All infrastructure projects are done with an eye toward greening defence.

While some parties continue to ignore the science on climate change and offer no plan to tackle this global challenge, our government is taking action against climate change. Our innovate energy performance contracts at wings and bases across the country are helping us to meet our climate objectives, while producing economic benefits for communities and creating significant long-term cost savings for Canadians.

Our efforts to minimize our carbon footprint have put us on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. These estimates also include $27.7 million for our ongoing project to replace the jetties at CFB Esquimalt so that our navy's infrastructure will be ready to accommodate existing and future ships.

As climate change contributes to a more accessible Arctic, we are also investing in the north, and that is why we are helping upgrade the Inuvik airport runway and why we have built the Nanisivik refuelling facility. These investments do more than help us defend our sovereignty and contribute to continental defence. These investments build relationships with our indigenous peoples who live in the north. They help us create jobs and economic opportunities and maintain access for all Canadians who live and work in those communities.

Our new Arctic and offshore patrol ships and projects like over-the-horizon radar technology will enhance our operating and surveillance capabilities in that vast and challenging environment. These estimates include $8.3 million for remotely piloted aircraft systems to further enable long-range intelligence and surveillance in Canada and on deployments. We are requesting $26.4 million to ensure that our CF-18s remain operational and interoperable with our allies until our new fighter fleet is ready. We are requesting $3.2 million to advance the Canadian surface combatant project, along with $177 million to support and upgrade the armoured combat support vehicle fleet.

The latter highlights the flexibility of the defence policy's funding model, which would allow us to begin this project five years sooner than anticipated. This would save us money that would have been spent maintaining an aging fleet. The project would benefit Canadians, supporting over 10,000 well-paying middle-class jobs across Canada.

Even with all the right people and all the right resources, Canada cannot tackle modern defence challenges alone. Global instability is heightened by the effects of climate change and scarcity. Rapid advances in technology bring both opportunity and risk. We face threats to democracy and challenges to the rules-based international order. In this environment, we must be innovative and collaborative, working across departments, across disciplines and across borders. That is why we are committed to being a reliable partner and a responsible global citizen.

These estimates include roughly $42 million as Canada's contribution to support the NATO common services, like military equipment and infrastructure. Our current contributions to NATO are significant. Commodore Kurtz is currently leading the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two. Major-General Jennie Carignan is leading the training mission in Iraq. Our contributions to NATO will be leading a battle group in Latvia and supporting our air policing in Romania. We are rejoining the NATO AWACS program that the previous government pulled out of.

This summer, we completed our United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali and began providing tactical airlift support to other United Nations missions as part of Operation Presence in Uganda. We continue to advance the Vancouver principles and the women, peace and security agenda. As part of the Elsie initiative, Canadian Armed Forces has partnered with Ghana Armed Forces to find innovative solutions to overcome barriers to women's participation in peace operations.

To grow representation of women in peacekeeping, it means increasing the number of women who serve in our armed forces. That is why we will focus on growing the representation of women in the Canadian military to at least 25% of the total force by 2026.

I have barely scratched the surface of all the great work and collaboration happening across the security defence community as part of our SSE implementation. There is much more work to be done. The security challenges we face today are diverse, complex and far-reaching. They pose serious threats to our collective security and prosperity, so it is imperative that we invest in the right equipment, capabilities and initiatives to enable our women and men in uniform to do the difficult jobs that we ask of them. The additional $463.6 million is necessary to deliver on our commitment to support our people so they can continue to protect Canadians and advance peace and security at home and abroad.

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Chair, I thank the minister for his speech. I would also like to thank all the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces for the excellent work they do. Some of my family members are in the Canadian Armed Forces, so I see the extraordinary work they do every day.

I know the minister was at the meeting with NATO leaders last week. I would like to give him an opportunity to tell us what we are doing with NATO, to talk about the excellent work being done by our allies and what Canada is prepared to do. We are working with our partners and everybody benefits.

Can the minister tell us what we are working on with our NATO allies?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Chair, I thank the member for Acadie—Bathurst for his tireless support and advocacy for the Canadian Armed Forces.

The 70% increase in our defence spending has allowed us to invest in the right capabilities. The appropriate capabilities allow us to make the appropriate contributions, because multilateralism is very important to our government, along with supporting NATO, which is part of my mandate also.

We are leading a battle group in Latvia, currently commanding a naval task group and leading the training mission in Iraq. There are three substantial NATO missions that we are currently leading. We have air policing right now in Romania plus the investments that we are making into the AWACS program, which is also extremely vital.

Taking a leadership role is extremely important. We set a great example for our allies. They see not only our contributions, but also an actual plan that will take us well into the future.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Chair, I also want to thank the minister for his excellent speech and for his leadership on national defence.

We know that Canada is a world leader in terms of the proportion of women in its military and the areas in which they serve. Can the minister please inform this House as to what the forces are doing to promote women as an integral part of the Canadian Armed Forces?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Chair, I thank the member for Davenport for her tireless work in supporting the Canadian Armed Forces.

Supporting and increasing the number of women in the Canadian Armed Forces is extremely important. To increase the number of women on further operations, we need to increase our numbers. More importantly, we are making sure that we create an inclusive environment to allow everybody to succeed, and I am very proud.

Currently, we have Commodore Kurtz who is commanding the naval task force in the Mediterranean for NATO and Major-General Carignan who is commanding a NATO training mission, and we have a lot more leadership roles. It is something we want to be able to foster, because research has shown that when we have more women participating in conflict, we also reduce conflict.

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Chair, as this is my first opportunity to rise in this place, I want to thank all the residents of Brampton West for placing their trust in me once again.

As we know, the reserve force plays a vital role in enabling the Canadian Armed Forces to be a flexible and reliable military. Can the minister tell us how he ensures that we are taking good care of our reservists who are waiting to be called upon at a moment's notice?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Mr. Chair, reservists play a vital role in the Canadian Armed Forces. As we are going to be increasing the size of the armed forces, I was extremely proud to announce that the reserve pay will be equal to that of the regular force.

Reservists have played a vital role in the increased demand on domestic operations when it comes to tackling some of the challenges, such as floods and fires due to climate change. We also made an announcement to invest $250 million over the next five years for reserve infrastructure, which is absolutely necessary. Some of the buildings desperately need repair, and we owe it our reserve force members that when they do come to train, they have top-notch facilities.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Chair, I will direct my questions to the Minister of Transport.

Can the minister confirm that all ministers have set up conflict of interest screens?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Chair, I can speak for myself, but I will have to get back to my colleague on that one.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Chair, is Marine Atlantic an independent Crown corporation?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, Marine Atlantic is independent. It assures the service between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Chair, is the minister responsible for ferry acquisition?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, there are a number of ferries that are federal. We are responsible for overseeing that and funding the acquisition of those ferries.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Chair, is the minister going offshore to purchase ferries for Marine Atlantic?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, Marine Atlantic has the latitude to make its own decisions with respect to where it will get its ferries. However, I would add that ferries for the Magdalen Islands to P.E.I. as well as between P.E.I. and Nova Scotia, the Holiday Island, are being replaced in Canada at Davie shipbuilding.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Chair, did the minister sign off on an offshore deal for Marine Atlantic?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, I have not.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Chair, is the minister aware of a national shipbuilding strategy that was set up to revitalize the Canadian industry?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, yes, and I would say that this government has done more than the previous government to make that happen.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Chair, one more time. Is the minister aware of Marine Atlantic going offshore for the purchase of a ferry?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, we are in the early stages. In fact, in the supplementary estimates (A), we are allocating $3 million for that process to begin.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Chair, with regard to the testing of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, we understand that reports are informing Canadians that the 737 Max will be into the Canadian market in Q1 of next year, 2020. Will Transport Canada be conducting its own recertification?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, there were a number of false starts on that particular program. I will say to Canadians that I can assure them that the MAX 8 will not fly from, to or over Canada until it is certified to be safe by Transport Canada.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Chair, will Transport Canada be relying on testing by foreign nations or the relevant agencies to recertify the aircraft?