Art Hanger

[Petitions, May 26th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present. The first bears 26 signatures.

The petitioners call upon parliament to enact legislation such as Bill C-225 so as to define in statute that a marriage can only be entered into between a single male and a single female.

[Kosovo, May 25th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, that is not very reassuring, coming from the mouth of the defence minister, as to whether we will send ground troops prior to a peace agreement.

It is incumbent upon the defence minister to make it absolutely clear to Canadians and to this parliament whether Canada will send troops into Kosovo prior to the reaching of a peace agreement.

[Kosovo, May 25th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, NATO is moving ever closer to sending ground forces into Kosovo.

The U.S. and Britain are in a substantial debate over this particular issue, but Canadians have not heard a whole lot from our defence minister.

Will Canada send ground forces into Kosovo prior to the reaching of a peace agreement?

[National Defence, May 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the truth of the matter is that this government has cut billions of dollars out of the defence budget. It has literally laid to waste the troops and their capacity to move around the world. Instead it resorts to rent a ship to get our equipment over there.

I am going to ask the defence minister again, when is he going to commit to building or buying the necessary ships to move our troops and equipment around the world?

[National Defence, May 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the government is sending 800 Canadian troops over to Macedonia. The trouble is it will take two months to get there and guess what? They are going to have to hitch a ride across the ocean to get over to the Balkans.

The chief of defence staff admitted in his last annual report that Canada has limited lift capacity for heavy equipment. The defence minister can see for himself the problem. I ask the defence minister, when is he going to buy or build the necessary ships that our troops desperately need?

[Kosovo, May 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the conflict in Yugoslavia rages on. Last weekend however saw a tragic change of events when the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was mistakenly bombed.

On behalf of the official opposition I would like to express to the Chinese people and the Chinese government our profound regrets for this tragic loss of life and the injuries and sufferings caused by this bombing.

This incident illustrates the unintentional consequences of combat. Despite that fact, NATO must stay the course in its resolve to bring an end to Milosevic's campaign of ethnic cleansing and to ensure a safe return of Kosovar Albanians to their homes whereby they can live in peace and security.

In the past, all efforts to resolve this conflict peacefully failed because Mr. Milosevic refused to agree to a negotiated settlement.

On Thursday, members of the G-8, including Russia, came up with a seven point plan aimed at ending this conflict. It is now up to Mr. Milosevic to demonstrate his commitment to peace and his desire to end this conflict by signing on to the plan.

[Kosovo, May 6th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, our military planners talk of double tours of duty which reveal just how strapped the Canadian forces are for personnel. Our soldiers are already overtasked and they are overworked in Bosnia.

Will the defence minister assure the House that any further commitment to an international peacekeeping force in Kosovo will not include troops who are currently serving in Bosnia?

[Kosovo, May 6th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, Canada should do everything possible to make peace a reality in Kosovo. That will inevitably mean committing a sizeable Canadian military contingent to the region. I am concerned however that we may not have the resources to extend any such commitment beyond the current 800 soldiers who have just been deployed.

Is the defence minister considering the expansion of Canada's current commitment beyond what we have already sent there?

[Interparliamentary Delegations, May 6th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association which represented Canada at the meeting of the standing committee and the Secretaries of the National Delegations of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly held in Dresden, Germany, March 26 to 28, 1999.

[Kosovo, April 22nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, we are not talking about incremental costs. We are talking about a total cost besides incremental.

The government budgeted $103 million for the procurement of smart bombs. Our fighters have flown well over 100 sorties into that region. Obviously supplies are getting rather thin.

Would the defence minister inform the House as to what the supply situation is with regard to the smart weapons, what steps the government will take to replenish those supplies, and how much it will cost?