David Collenette

[National Defence, March 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, after question period yesterday I received a copy of the memorandum General Jeffries had sent out and I went through it rather meticulously. Most of the contents of that memorandum paralleled the recommendations and the commentary of the special joint committee on defence to which the hon. member was a signatory.

On page 49 of the parliamentary report the committee said that morale was not a problem because of poor leadership. The hon. member now wants us to believe that the opinion he had with all the rest of the members some four months ago has somehow been changed.

The fact of the matter is that the committee of which he was a prominent member made a lot of recommendations. All those recommendations have been accepted and all the questions that General Jeffries raised are being dealt with in a full and consistent manner.

[Canadian Armed Forces, March 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I find it odd that the hon. member wishes me to institute an inquiry based on one memo.

The hon. member was a member of the joint committee of the House and Senate that looked into all aspects and operations of the Canadian Armed Forces. He signed a report concluding that the leadership of the armed forces was top flight.

Now he comes forward based on the contents of one memo, perhaps generated by the very emotional situation of the closing of the Canadian airborne, and wishes to reverse the assessment to which he subscribed less than three months ago. That is not logical.

[Canadian Armed Forces, March 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, we have to realize the armed forces has been under considerable pressure for the last few years since the events in Somalia became public. This has posed a great problem and a strain.

The armed forces has enjoyed an enviable reputation for many years. The work discharged by the armed forces is exemplary. The Canadian Armed Forces is universally respected.

This week we are preparing to send the first of about a 470 contingent to Haiti. These people are outstanding. They are well led. That does not mean to say that from time to time problems will crop up. Where specific examples of management or leadership are brought to the attention of the government, they are dealt with.

With respect to the issue of Somalia, the whole chain of command and how the troops were deployed to Somalia will be the subject of an inquiry.

For the Reform Party to make blanket accusations about the morale of the troops and about the high leadership of the armed forces is not borne out by the facts. There was considerable disappointment regarding airborne matters and may have been reflected in the alleged report.

[National Defence, March 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I have just made the statement that the government and I have full confidence in the chief of defence staff and all those in command of the Canadian Armed Forces.

With respect to the renewal of any organization, there are changes made every year. I announced a couple of weeks ago we would be streamlining the general officer ranks by about 25 per cent. Some new people have been brought into key positions at

national defence headquarters. I believe this will allay any concerns the hon. member has that we at national defence headquarters do not have dynamic, vibrant leadership.

[National Defence, March 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I am not privy to all communications that are made between the chain of command throughout the country.

If the hon. member has such a document that he describes, I will certainly raise the matter with the chief of defence staff to see if the concerns allegedly addressed by Brigadier-General Jeffries have been brought to his attention. Then we will decide how to proceed from that point forward.

[National Defence, March 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, there was a particular incident to which the hon. member refers and that concerns the misinformation in a report on the videos. That matter was dealt with by the chief of defence staff who relieved a general officer of his post as a result of not providing both the CDS and myself with the details.

I have full confidence in the chief of defence staff and the military command who work pretty hard at their jobs, as I have confidence in all of the men and women who serve Canada proudly in the armed forces.

[National Defence, March 14th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I find it extraordinary that the hon. member did not listen to my answer.

Because of the uncertainty surrounding the disposition of the site of the former College at St-Jean, the advertising for those students specifically in Quebec was delayed a number of weeks. Now that we have a deal that was signed a few weeks ago we know what exactly is available. Those students coming out of high schools in Quebec can take the prep year at the new civil institution in St-Jean.

In the last few days we have been heartened by what we have seen. Recruitment is picking up. It was merely delayed.

The hon. member talks about the decline in francophones overall in the armed forces. That is not borne out by the facts. About 27 per cent of members of the armed forces are francophone and fully 24 per cent of all senior officers are francophone, and that will continue.

[National Defence, March 14th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the House that recruitment for the armed forces is down right across the country. One of the reasons is that the economy is buoyant.

Historically when times are rough there is obviously less competition for the various places. As a result of improvement

in the economy we find that the normal group of people who would be attracted to the armed forces has found other options.

With respect to Quebec, recruitment is down about 50 per cent overall. It is down 40 per cent in Ontario. It is down about 20 per cent in the west. It is about even in the Atlantic region.

I should say that part of the problem concerning recruitment to the military college was due to the uncertainty as to what would happen with young students coming out of high schools in Quebec. That uncertainty was created because of the opposition tactics by the official opposition and the government in Quebec City that refused to accept the agreement originally signed by the former Government of Quebec.

Now that we have the agreement in place and now that the parents of francophone students in Quebec know what is going to happen, we believe recruitment will pick up in the next few weeks and we will meet our target very shortly.

[National Defence, March 13th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, this occurred in 1992 at CFB Chilliwack and involved the reserve forces.

A former British commando was brought in for instruction. He happened to bring someone else along. Neither was paid by the Department of National Defence and the kind of instruction that was given to those young men was not in conformity with the normal training of the armed forces.

I have asked our officials to look into why the commanding officer at the time did not report what was obviously some behaviour that was not ordered by the military and not paid for by the armed forces.

[Low Level Flights, March 3rd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the report of

the environmental panel was given to the Minister of the Environment and me a few days ago. We decided to make it public at the earliest opportunity.

As to the future of low level flying on the east coast out of Goose Bay, that will be decided by cabinet in due course.