Dawn Black

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, if the media report is full of errors I would appreciate it if the minister would clarify. Certainly from that report it is different than the Conservative election promise of icebreakers for the defence of Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic and in the north. Perhaps there may be good reason for that kind of a change to the six smaller ships.

When the minister was sworn in, it was the view of the department that because of climate change the Arctic would be largely ice free by 2015. Does the department have an understanding of how climate change is affecting the Arctic? Does the minister believe that the effects of climate change will mean that we will need to find new ways to defend our sovereignty and defend the north?

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, I want to move on to the issue of the Arctic. The decision of the cabinet priorities and planning committee regarding Arctic patrol vessels has been discussed recently in the media.

We do not have very much information about what precisely is involved with the proposal that was talked about but are we talking about a corvette type of ship, a frigate or is it something larger? Could the minister tell the House where this plan for Arctic patrol vessels, the six that were mentioned in the media, is in the planning stage and what part of the process is it at now?

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, I had the privilege, with other members of the defence committee, of visiting Kandahar in January. Along with all of my other colleagues on the defence committee, I was incredibly and profoundly impressed with the men and women in the Canadian military.

In October, Canada sent Leopard tanks to Kandahar. I have here a photo from the Department of National Defence from the November 22 issue of The Maple Leaf. It shows Leopard tanks rolling off C-17 transports in Kandahar. I also have a document that was released to me under access to information by DND showing the contract for transport of Leopard tanks via Antonov 124 from Edmonton to Manas Airport just outside Bishkek in Kurdistan. I want to ask the minister why most of the flight was made by an Antonov and only the short end of the trip by a C-17.

Further, on October 4, Major General Daniel Benjamin was at our Standing Committee on National Defence and said that the Antonov cannot land in Kandahar. Is this also the minister's understanding? Will we continue to use Antonovs to do most of the transport of heavy equipment?

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, that would indicate that the fly-away cost of each CC-130J is $188 million Canadian.

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, I know that the minister realizes that the Buffalo aircraft on the west coast are 40 years old and that many of the parts needed for replacement have to be manufactured individually because they are no longer available. It seems to be past time for them to be replaced.

I want to return to the question of the CC-130Js that was raised earlier, the aircraft that Canada is buying. The figures we have been given say that we will spend $3.2 billion to buy 17 of the aircraft and an additional $1.7 billion for a 20 year service contract for the planes.

Earlier tonight the minister indicated that he thought the cost of each plane was $85 million Canadian. When we have $3.2 billion for 17 planes, it works out to $188 million each. I want to ask the minister, if it is his contention that they are $85 million Canadian each, what is it that we are buying besides planes? What else are we getting for our $3.2 billion for 17 aircraft?

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, I would like to continue on from where I was in terms of search and rescue aircraft. I want to notify the Chair that I will be sharing my time. I will use the first 10 minutes for questions and answers. My colleague, the member for Halifax, will take the last five.

It is clear that there is no real champion for search and rescue aircraft in the Department of National Defence. I said at committee that it appears that search and rescue really is the orphan child of the defence department, so I want to ask the minister about this.

Will the department champion our domestic needs to have adequate search and rescue, or should it, in the opinion of the minister, be moved to another government department?

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, why has this taken so long? Has the delay been from the air force? Has it been from the Chief of Defence Staff, or has it been from the minister's office? It is incredible to me that this file does not move.

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2007]

They are falling apart.

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, another issue that I have raised a number of times is the need to replace the fixed wing search and rescue planes. It is something that is very important not only to me, but to the people in my province of British Columbia, because of the geography, the mountains, the ocean, for all of those reasons.

Their replacement was announced three years ago. Could the minister to tell us how long it will be before there are replacements for the 40 year old Buffaloes that are used in British Columbia for search and rescue?

[Business of Supply, May 17th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, I understand that, but I still want to know who has the final authority or responsibility for procurement in the Department of National Defence.

Pierre Lagueux, who was the former assistant deputy minister of materiel, appeared before the committee not long after the minister did. I asked him about the minister's response and he said, “I've read the transcripts, and I've been watching the committee with interest. To be quite frank, I'm a little surprised at that”. Mr. Lagueux went on to say further that in his time at DND, “it was clear to me who was going to hang if things went wrong”, namely the Minister of National Defence.

Would the minister agree that he is actually the minister with final responsibility for defence procurement?