Debates of May 15th, 2019

Department of National Defence—Main Estimates, 2019-20

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

Mr. Chair, we will find out through the competition which aircraft will be selected, based on our requirements.

Does the member disagree with the Leader of the Opposition when he states that he wants an open competition to replace our fighter fleet?

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

Mr. Chair, were any code words used to bypass ATIPs regarding Operation Honour?

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

Mr. Chair, the ATIP process is completely independent. We are absolutely committed to ensuring the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces have the environment to succeed in the Canadian Armed Forces through Operation Honour.

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

Mr. Chair, will the minister instruct the department to investigate whether any code words or phrases were used on other files to avoid ATIPs?

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

Mr. Chair, the ATIP process is completely independent of our process. I expect all members of the Canadian Armed Forces to act in a professional manner, as they do. The previous member who asked those questions obviously disagreed. My question for the member is whether she agrees with her?

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

Mr. Chair, did the minister ever receive instruction from the PMO to use code words on ATIPs?

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

Mr. Chair, no.

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

Mr. Chair, will the minister release any and all documents in which code words or phrases were used to bypass ATIPs that are already being fulfilled?

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

Mr. Chair, when it comes to the ATIP process, it is completely independent of my office.

[Neil Ellis, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening about the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. Tonight I would like to discuss how our government is caring for our women and men in uniform.

The main estimates presented today represent funding that will directly support the people of our Canadian Armed Forces. Supporting them is the number one priority of the Minister of National Defence, and it is shared by all members of this government. Every single defence activity we undertake comes back to this important objective, because we know that when the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces are well cared for, properly equipped and fully supported, our country is better defended, our values are upheld and Canadians are more secure. With our full support, they can answer the call of duty any time, anywhere.

Recently, when natural disasters unexpectedly placed so many of our communities in distress, we saw just how quickly and efficiently our Canadian Armed Forces members can provide aid. They are also key in defending our values around the globe, contributing to missions in Latvia, Iraq, Ukraine and Mali.

Long before the First World War, members of our military stepped up to defend our nation with courage and honour. Time and time again, they answered the call and defended our people and our way of life. We relied on them in times of great conflict in the past, and we will do so just as much in the future. We must ensure that they are well taken care of today so that they can face tomorrow's challenges.

Caring for our people is at the very core of Canada's defence policy: strong, secure and engaged. This is not rhetoric. In the two years since we launched this policy, concrete action is improving care and support for military members and their families.

We recognize that the complexities of military life affect the entire family, not just the member. We know that military family members are the strength behind the uniform. That is why our government is offering enhanced tax relief for our women and men in uniform deployed on international operations. We have done this to show appreciation for their efforts and to ease some of the stress for them and their families.

It is also why we are delivering $6 million in new annual funding for the military family resource centres and why we have implemented virtual counselling services for families and deployed staff overseas to provide support wherever and whenever it is needed.

The defence team has begun important work on the seamless Canada initiative. This program brings together federal, provincial and private sector agencies and organizations to stabilize life for military families, which are frequently required to move. It is about easing the burden every time we post a member of our military to a different wing or base around the country, often in a different province or territory. I am pleased to say that as a result of the seamless Canada initiative, a number of our pilot projects are under way in different provinces.

Moving from province to province can also mean a change or loss of employment for many military spouses. Therefore, this past fall, we announced the military spousal employment network. This network of over a dozen national employers in the private and public sectors has made local or virtual employment opportunities available to military spouses. This new network complements National Defence's recently launched military spousal employment initiative, which offers military spouses access to flexible, meaningful employment opportunities with DND on bases and wings. It also provides National Defence hiring managers with a pool of experienced candidates who wish to maintain their skills and continue their careers.

All these new initiatives are easing pressures on military families, but we also know that the unique challenges members and their families face do not always end when they leave the military. Our commitment to their well-being follows them beyond their service.

Our government recognizes the complex challenges of transitioning out of the military. Our defence team is overhauling the transition process to put a stronger focus on retaining our skilled personnel when possible and on all seven domains of well-being that are key to a successful transition to post-military life.

In December, we officially launched the Canadian Armed Forces transition group, which has the important task of improving the transition experience for all Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans and their families and of providing support to our ill or injured members.

The transition group provides professional and personalized support to better meet the needs of our members in the regular and reserve forces. The group will ensure that all Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans and their families receive the full range of supports, compensation and benefits available to them. This is one way the Department of National Defence and Veterans Affairs are closing gaps between the work of both departments.

Our two departments are also working together to implement other initiatives to support the transition of our military members. This past September, we re-introduced the veterans service card, a tangible symbol of a member's service to our country.

We also launched a joint suicide prevention strategy, which recognizes that no single program or service can address this issue alone or eliminate all the risks. Last year, the strategy released the “Canadian Armed Forces Clinician Handbook on Suicide Prevention”. It continues its work to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.

Furthermore, our defence team is addressing the needs of our women and men in uniform through a total health and wellness approach. The team is making sure that those who need mental, physical or emotional care have access to comprehensive, compassionate and dependable services.

We often ask our women and men in uniform to operate in challenging and dangerous parts of the world, and they do so knowing that they may experience loss or trauma or that they could come home with an invisible injury. We know that operational stress injuries are real. With 26 mental health clinics and seven specialized operational trauma stress support centres located at military bases across the country, we are ensuring that our members have the programs and services in place to help them recover and heal.

Overall, our government is most proud of the women and men of our Canadian Armed Forces. From the day they put on the uniform to the day they take it off, and beyond, the care we offer them shows that we are there for them and their families. Investing in the well-being of our people is the most important commitment we can make. They deserve our care as much as they do our respect, and our defence investments ensure that our government delivers on both.

Time permitting, I would now like to ask a few questions of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence.

Unlike the Conservatives, who cut billions from defence, we are providing the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces with the equipment they need to keep Canadians safe and with the support they deserve. Can the parliamentary secretary tell this House how the women and men of our Canadian Armed Forces are at the core of everything we do?

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

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague from Bay of Quinte for his great work and his unwavering support for the base located in his riding, CFB Trenton.

I am always happy to talk about the Conservative government's budget cuts, as well as the investments we are making for our men and women. We are offering tax-free income for members deployed on international operations. We are investing $155 million to safeguard the digital privacy and security of Canadians. We are allocating $198 million to improve access to health care and implement a joint suicide prevention strategy. We are also providing $6 million per year in new funding to military family resource centres, which means more child care hours. Lastly, our defence policy contains a great investment for our men and women.

I wonder how the previous Conservative government could have afforded these investments after all the cuts it made during its 10 years in power.

[Neil Ellis, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Mr. Chair, we are providing the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces with the equipment they need to keep Canada safe. I would take our record over that of the Conservatives any day on defence procurement. Can the parliamentary secretary tell us more about the new fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft that will help keep Canadians safe?

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

Mr. Chair, that is another example that shows how our investments compare to the previous government's. I am wondering how it could have made these investments.

Our government gave a $2.4-billion contract to Airbus Defence and Space for a new fleet of 16 fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft and five years of in-service support.

These aircraft will replace the old ones, and the first of the 16 is expected to be available by the end of the year.

This is another example of the investments that we, on this side of the House, are making, as opposed to the cuts made under the Harper government.

[Neil Ellis, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Mr. Chair, my riding is home to CFB Trenton, Canada's largest air force base, and many Canadian Armed Forces members are constituents. Our government is continuing to show its unwavering support for Ukraine. Can the parliamentary secretary talk to us again about recent developments regarding our mission in Ukraine and the role of our Canadian Armed Forces?

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

Mr. Chair, I would like to once again reiterate our unwavering support for Ukraine. As members know, that is why our government renewed Canada's training and military co-operation mission in Ukraine for a period of three years, until March 2022.

This renewed mandate will enable approximately 200 members of the Canadian Armed Forces to successfully pursue their tactical training of Ukrainian security forces. This mission is a key component of the Canadian government's approach to helping Ukraine strengthen its own security, stability and sovereignty.

We will always stand with Ukraine.

[Neil Ellis, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Mr. Chair, can the hon. parliamentary secretary talk to us about budget 2019 and its funding for DND initiatives?

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

Mr. Chair, budget 2019 includes important measure to support the Canadian Armed Forces, including renewing our missions in Ukraine, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan. In addition, it allocates nearly $19 million in support of Canadian Armed Forces members transitioning over to civilian life.

Once again, unlike the previous government, we are investing in the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces, specifically through our defence policy and the investments we are making to provide them with the necessary equipment and training. That is what they need, and they are very pleased that our government is investing in them every day.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Chair, as the proud representative of 19 Wing Comox, I am incredibly proud to be here to represent the amazing work the people at that base do.

The amount of work that is currently being done on the search and rescue training facility has been wonderful to watch. At this time in the world, having training for search and rescue is needed, and Comox is a great place to do it.

However, in the Comox Valley, the rental vacancy rate has been under 1% for a very long time. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to remind the minister that I wrote a letter several months ago asking about this issue. The reality is that there is not a lot of housing on the base, either. With more people coming to the region for training, and the challenges so many of the women and men in uniform are facing in terms of housing, can the minister please let me know, and let the House know, if any resources will be funnelled to 19 Wing Comox to address this important housing issue?

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

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for her advocacy and support for 19 Wing and her knowledge of search and rescue. The fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft will be coming to Comox.

The challenge of making sure that our women and men have the right facilities to work and live is extremely important to us. We are currently investing $2.2 million, and we are seeing the implementation phase of military housing at Comox. In addition, we are focusing on health services. Roads and utilities will also be upgraded. However, a lot more work needs to be done, not just at Comox but across the country.

When we stop investing in our bases, they will require some critical infrastructure investment. That is exactly what we are doing. We have a lot more work to do. This is something our defence policy will be addressing directly, because looking after our personnel and their families is our number one priority.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Chair, I thank the minister for his answer. We will certainly be waiting for that. However, the concern I have is that a lot of this will be short-term housing for people who are receiving training rather than housing for people who actually live on the base, which is a huge need. I will certainly be watching for that to be dealt with.

Across this country, one of the major challenges for the military, as the minister just spoke to, is infrastructure. It is well known that much of our military infrastructure is either coming to the end of its life or is very well past it. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of the men and women in uniform for their diligence in caring for that infrastructure, sometimes after a long time waiting and under very hard circumstances, to the best of their ability. However, it certainly needs to be updated. For example, many barracks were built in the 1950s, and they need to be updated urgently.

At this point, the minister really has no comprehensive infrastructure plan. When will it be developed? As the operational budget continues to remain largely flat, these needs must be addressed. The people around this country deserve to be served much better. I would like a comprehensive response to this.

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

Mr. Chair, if you would allow me, I am happy to give a very comprehensive response to this.

Taking care of our women and men, including their families, is extremely important. We have actually increased the operational budget. When I visit all our bases and wings, we look at the military family resource centres, we look at the health services centres and we look at their housing. A priority is making sure where our people need it most.

Across Canada, we have been investing, whether it is in Comox or whether it is in Cold Lake. We have 8,900 housing units that will be built for the Canadian Armed Forces. However, let us not forget that our Canadian Armed Forces members live not only in military housing but also outside, and we make sure that the preferential living differential is also updated. We are doing reviews on that to make sure we ease that burden.

Plus, we are looking at other things. When people move from province to province, we are easing the burden for military families as they move. That is what seamless Canada is about. When they move, we make sure they get the best practices; we make sure they get their driver's licences more easily—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for North Island—Powell River.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Chair, the operational budget has remained largely flat. A small increase is not in any way meeting the massive needs of infrastructure deficits across this country.

I would also remind the minister that the housing situation in Comox is increasing dramatically and people are having to move farther and farther away. I agree that my riding is the most beautiful riding across the country, but when people are having to move an hour or an hour and a half away from where they work, that is a huge commute, and that is what is happening in my region. It is very important that we do not get lost in some of these discussions of big numbers. Action on the ground is desperately needed.

I have also shared with the minister my concern about purchasing second-hand F-18s from Australia. The Parliamentary Budget Officer examined the cost of buying and upgrading 18 used Australian F-18s and flying them until 2032. His report that was released earlier this year puts the financial price tag at between $1.09 billion and $1.15 billion, considerably more than the estimate of just under $900 million from DND. In 2018, we also saw in the Auditor General's report, “In our opinion, purchasing interim aircraft does not bring National Defence closer to consistently meeting the new operational requirement introduced in 2016.”

The other part that is interesting to me in the research that I have done is that Denmark, a country that has a comparably sized air force to Canada's, created an open and transparent competition. A fighter jet has been chosen and delivery is expected in 2022, which seems like a fairly reasonable process to me.

I am curious about why the government has chosen to move forward with second-hand fighter jets rather than holding an open and transparent competition in a timely manner—and here we are almost at the end of the Liberals' period of governance—to meet the domestic and international requirements of the Royal Canadian Air Force, be operable with Canada's vast and unique geography, including the Arctic, and be interoperable with our allies, including our commitments to NORAD and NATO.

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

Mr. Chair, just in case the member has not been tracking our defence policy or the discussions we have been having here with the official opposition, we actually have right now an open and transparent competition to replace all the fighters. In fact, we are buying more aircraft than what the previous government wanted, 88, so that we can actually meet our NORAD and NATO commitments simultaneously.

We have budgeted for this. We actually have the money to be able to purchase these jets. That is what we have committed to in our defence policy. The RFP will be out. A lot of good work has been done on this, making sure that we actually have the right requirements so that, when the competition goes through, the best jet is going to be selected.

When it comes to the interim fleet, our legacy fleet, we do still have missions to fly. Our air force is conducting air policing in Romania and Iceland as well as our NORAD mission. Our sovereignty is important, so we are investing in the legacy fleet. This is one of the reasons we have to purchase interim jets. I am very happy that we were able to move on this very quickly with Australia.

We have investments that will be going into the legacy fleet. We will be upgrading them. With those investments that we will be making, then it will be in line with the PBO's report. That work is ongoing to make sure the current fleet is upgraded for the appropriate equipment, whether it is on the radar systems or the weapons. We want to make sure we invest in our legacy fleet because we do have missions to fly.

I want to stress the fact that all of the fighter aircraft will be replaced in an open and transparent competition that is already ongoing, and the RFP will be out shortly.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Chair, I think it is absolutely disappointing that the government waited. To have the process happening now is just disappointing. We could have already, like Denmark, been to that place where we were actually moving forward with what we need, rather than buying second-hand planes that are not going to meet what we desperately need right now. It is disappointing, to say the least. Waiting and waiting is not what the military needs after many years of going back and forth between Conservative and Liberal governments where the budgets have been cut and the needs are not being met.

The government promised on multiple occasions to send up to 600 troops and 150 police to UN peacekeeping missions. How many do we have deployed on peacekeeping missions now?