Michel Gauthier

[Iraq, March 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, for one week now we have been asking the government to tell us where the 31 Canadian soldiers on exchange with other armies are located. The government refuses to answer citing security as the reason. Apparently this would jeopardize the soldiers' safety.

The Prime Minister must assume his responsibilities, stop covering up the fact that Canada is taking part in the war against Iraq and tell us, since it is our right to know, where are these Canadian soldiers at this time?

[Iraq, March 26th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister of Defence for confirming that such exchanges have existed for decades.

Now, could he inform us if Canadian soldiers happened to participate, for example, in the Vietnam War, which took place not so long ago, when such exchanges existed? If we are in Iraq, a war we do not agree with, I imagine that, for the same reasons, we must have been in Vietnam and just never knew it.

[Iraq, March 26th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the government is refusing to tell us where the Canadian soldiers integrated with American and British battalions are, apparently for security reasons.

Has the Canadian military been participating in such exchanges with other armies for a long time? What countries are we exchanging soldiers with? Has Canada already participated in other conflicts, without the public's knowledge, in the course of such exchanges?

[Iraq, March 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Spain officially supports the war in Iraq but has not sent any military personnel. Canada has decided not to support this war, but is taking part by land, air and sea.

I am asking the Prime Minister the following question: does Canada's current participation in the war not prove that Canada is one of the 15 anonymous countries that secretly gave the United States the go-ahead before the war started?

[Iraq, March 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian soldiers are actively taking part in the ground offensive in Iraq. There are Canadian pilots in the skies and Canadian marines in the Persian Gulf; in short, Canada is taking part by land, air and sea.

I would ask the Prime Minister the following question. If Canada had decided to take part in the war in Iraq, what more would we be doing?

[Iraq, March 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence has a rather odd way of looking at things.

Does he realize that the Canadian soldiers, who were left in American and British units, are fighting the war as we speak? They are in a combat situation. And even if Canada opposes the war, these soldiers are fighting in it. Let him explain that.

[Iraq, March 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, numerous pictures of American prisoners bring home the harsh reality of the war in Iraq. We realized that even logistics support units can be targets, just as offensive units can.

Does the Minister of National Defence, who refuses to pull out the Canadian soldiers integrated with the American and British units in Iraq, realize that the Canadian soldiers providing logistics support are performing exactly the same duties as the soldiers taken prisoner this weekend?

[Canada-U.S. Relations, March 20th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Defence must realize his explanations lack clarity. I will ask him again: Is the minister telling us that he considers it perfectly normal, in the name of friendship, for Canadian soldiers under American command to violate international rules, as they did in Afghanistan in connection with the treatment of prisoners? Does he think that is all right? That is what I am asking.

[Canada-U.S. Relations, March 20th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Defence confirmed that Canadian military personnel integrated with the special units under an agreement with other countries were under the command of American or British officers and, consequently, no Canadian officers were required.

Does the Minister of Defence not think that Canadian troops in such a context might once again end up being required to violate international rules, as they were in Afghanistan in connection with the treatment of prisoners?

[Iraq, March 19th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the circumstances are exceptional. The officers who leave the unified command will no longer be there, in a way, for the Canadian soldiers that have been integrated with combat units.

My question for the minister is as follows: since he believed it was wise to withdraw the officers, how then, using his own logic, can he explain leaving soldiers there, with no one responsible for them, and under the sole authority of American and British officers? That is the problem his decision has created.