Bill Graham

[National Defence, February 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is trying to create a secret de Polichinelle, as we say in French. It is ridiculous. This has been discussed in the House a dozen times and has been the subject matter of many newspaper articles.

We are very proud of our officers who are working with our American friends. We honour our commitments to our allies. We have always honoured our commitments to our allies. It is perfectly consistent with our principal decision that we are not serving in Iraq as a part of an occupying force in Iraq.

The Prime Minister has made it clear that we have no intention of going anywhere near that.

[National Defence, February 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was asked yesterday whether we intended to send troops to train in Iraq and he said “absolutely not”. That is exactly the decision of the Government of Canada.

This is an old story. We have always honoured our commitments to our allies for those very small number of officers who are serving with either British or American contingents. They have been there since before the Iraq war. We have always honoured our commitments. We continue to honour our responsibilities to our allies. We are not sending troops to Iraq.

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, surely hon. members have to recognize the difference between boring and superior bafflegab.

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I can certainly agree with the part of the premise that says that a lot of the stuff that I write is boring, dry and not very interesting, but that is a personal problem. The defence review has been the product of many people in my department. We have worked hard on it.

I am thrilled that Gen Hillier who has come on board is contributing to making it one of the best documents. I look forward to when we get our IPS out--

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure that the hon. member will rejoice with me the fact that we have made the decision to acquire the Cyclone. We look forward to it. In the meantime, the Sea Kings continue to perform their service. We maintain them. We operate them and we will do that under all conditions. They serve our country well, but we look forward to the replacement by the Cyclone which will be a tremendous asset for our military when we obtain it.

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the question is answered by two false premises in the preamble.

In the first place, the DART did not fail to go for lack of airlift capacity. The airlift capacity was there. We sent the DART when it was appropriate to send it.

Second, we have never had an occasion, and I think the hon. member knows this, when we have not been able to obtain appropriate rental facilities to take our forces abroad. Rather than put a lot of capital into something which is not used regularly, we have chosen the most prudent, best and most effective way to operate. We will continue to do so in the interests of the Canadian Forces.

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I applaud and appreciate some of the help I am getting from the opposition benches about the need for defence spending. I can assure members opposite that the Prime Minister and the finance minister are working together for the right balance in the budget for this country as we go forward with our proper forces.

I will be going to NATO tomorrow and I will be there on Wednesday. I want to assure the hon. member, if he is concerned, NATO is extremely grateful for our help in Afghanistan. It is looking for more help from Canada, but members opposite should not worry. We are not unappreciated by our NATO and other allies. We are greatly appreciated for the role that Canada plays in the world.

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, clearly the Minister of Finance is considering what is exactly needed in the budget to deal with military and other requirements for the Government of Canada.

I personally am working with the finance minister. We are all working with the finance minister to make sure that the budget will have the right balance in it. The budget will have a balance in it for the Canadian Forces as we move forward to fulfill the Prime Minister's objective of making sure that we are capable of helping in a world which needs Canada's help.

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, again the chairman of the Senate committee has been actively pursuing more resources for the armed forces, and this government has been listening. That is why we promised in the platform to increase the size of our reserves and the size of our standing forces. That is why over the last few years we have promised an additional $7 billion in capital funding for the armed forces.

We are on track. We are turning the corner. We are increasing the size of our army and our armed forces. We are increasing the ability for them to perform the outstanding role they provide around the world as peacekeepers.

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, every chief of the defence staff, and it is the chief of the defence staff's job, has always pointed out to governments that the military could use more resources. I am confident that General Hillier will point that out in the interests of obtaining the best resources for the forces.

This government and the Prime Minister have promised to increase the size of the Canadian Forces. We have promised to obtain better equipment for them. We are on track to do that. We will deliver on that promise.