David Collenette

[Auditor General's Report, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, again the Auditor General's report covered the term before this government was elected. Many of the problems he has outlined are being corrected. We agree with many of the points he has raised.

We obviously agree that improvements could be made in terms of management, especially in the information systems area, something which concerns me particularly. I have asked officials to ensure that all future projects in the information systems area are reviewed so that we do meet the expectations of the Auditor General.

[National Defence, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I said earlier that this inquiry will begin after charges are disposed of against one additional person and that this would not prejudice the appeals that would perhaps be going on at the same time.

With respect to the broadness of the inquiry, I have assured people that the terms of reference will be as broad as possible to answer every single question that hon. members might have. I would hope that these assurances would be accepted by the hon. member's party because they have been generally accepted by people across the country.

[National Defence, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I do not want to accept the premise upon which the hon. member's question is based. However, even if there were such concerns surely the announcement of an open and public civilian inquiry would allay any of those concerns.

[Canadian Peacekeepers In Bosnia, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I am a little annoyed. We have had two debates in this House about the engagement, the deployment of our troops in Bosnia and Croatia. There was a consensus that Canada should discharge its obligations and stay there. This is not a matter of partisan debate. I realize some people have reservations. There was a consensus. We have tried to depoliticize this whole debate.

To link the Auditor General's report, which describes a situation that we inherited from the former government and one which we are correcting, to the current tragic situation on the ground in Bosnia is absolutely irresponsible.

[Canadian Peacekeepers In Bosnia, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I can categorically say there is no morale problem with the Canadian forces in Bosnia and Croatia. If anything is going to undermine morale it is the comments of parliamentarians like the hon. member opposite and his colleague yesterday who made unfortunate references to possible situations involving fatalities of our soldiers.

We are all Canadians. It does not matter what party we represent. These people are our people representing the country, doing work for the UN Let us not compromise their safety any more than we have to.

[Canadian Peacekeepers In Bosnia, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, an essential part of military planning is that you do not reveal what your plans are to anyone other than the people you command.

It is a tragic situation but the question amuses me. The reputation and the experience of the Canadian Armed Forces not only in the former Yugoslavia but elsewhere should lead the hon. member to have confidence that the chief of defence staff and all those in the Canadian command, including the rest of the UNPROFOR forces, know what the problems are and will know how to deal with any situation that may arise.

[Canadian Peacekeepers In Bosnia, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, our ambassador in Brussels at NATO was engaged in discussions yesterday about the future use of air power.

Nothing has changed from the course of events that was decided upon earlier this year, that if a UN safe haven is attacked, if UNPROFOR forces are attacked, the UN would have the right to ask NATO to engage in air strikes.

I think it is premature at this point to expect any further attacks in the next few days. This matter is under discussion not only between NATO and the UN but also between the warring parties in the former Yugoslavia.

[Canadian Peacekeepers In Bosnia, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have no exact information on the terms of the cease-fire in Bihac. Perhaps I may point out that we only have five Canadians in Bihac. Most of the soldiers who are being detained, and there are 55, are based near Visoko, north of Sarajevo.

There are 55 Canadians currently being detained. Nothing has changed on their situation. They are in good shape. We are negotiating for their release. It is part of the larger problem dealing with the question of Bihac. We do have five Canadians in Bihac. There have been reports of some cessation of hostilities today in Bihac and we hope that will mean there will be some normalization of events.

At the moment there is little change from what we described yesterday.

[National Defence, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct one thing the hon. member said. The inquiry will not prejudice the appeals that will be going on perhaps at the same time.

With respect to the other part of the question, in terms of the conditions, the terms of reference of the inquiry, this question was posed last Friday by his colleague and these terms of reference are being worked on by the judge advocate general of the Canadian Armed Forces and also the officials of the Department of Justice. Once we announce the composition of the inquiry, the head of the inquiry and the other board members, the terms of reference will also be announced.

Those terms of reference will be wide enough and broad enough to deal with all of the complaints made by people such as Major Armstrong and members of the opposition and other people in the country who feel that this particular matter is grave, and we agree, and has to be dealt with as expeditiously as possible.

[National Defence, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my duty is to respect the judicial system in this country.

I have said earlier that what is very important in dealing with these tragic events is to ensure that those people who have been accused are dealt with the in the proper way in front of the courts martial.

What I also said yesterday is that we believe that it would be appropriate to commence the inquiry after any disposition of further charges, there is one particular case that could go to a court martial, but before the appeals are concluded.

That means that in the early part of next year this inquiry which, I repeat, will be public, open and civilian, will get under way and will deal with all of the specific allegations that have been made.

I asked the chief of defence staff to remind members of the armed forces of the rules with respect to speaking on military matters and I do note that Major Armstrong taped the interview with Le Point about two or three days ago before I made this announcement yesterday.

I think the best situation now is to allow all complaints, all concerns by anyone in the forces or elsewhere to go to the inquiry when it starts in the new year.

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