House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 67% of the vote.
National Defence November 25th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I answered a similar question from members of the Reform Party yesterday in the House of Commons.
It is very important to respect the judicial system and, on the basis of the legal counsel I received, I decided that it would be advisable to start the inquiry after the courts martial, but before the court martial disposes of the appeals.
National Defence November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, how clear do we have to be? There will be an open civilian inquiry and any member of the armed forces who has such information or concerns will have not only the opportunity to make those representations but the obligation to make those representations to that inquiry.
National Defence November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, in view of the fact that we have announced an inquiry which will be open and which will be civilian, I do not think it is in the best interests of justice for me to join in these kinds of discussions.
I am concerned about the fact that another member of the Canadian Armed Forces has made a public statement without authorization. The hon. member should know that as a condition of service if individuals have something to communicate they communicate it through their superior.
I overlooked the rules last week because what Major Armstrong said was of such purport and seriousness that I believe he had the right as every Canadian citizen does to make this particular statement. Therefore, we called for an inquiry. We cannot have this matter tried on a daily basis in the newspapers, on television programs or here in the House of Commons. It has to go to the inquiry.
As a result I have directed the Chief of Defence Staff to inform members of the armed forces of the sensitivity of this matter and remind them of their obligations as members of the armed forces in the interests of justice. Hon. members opposite may not care about justice, but we on this side of the House do.
Bosnia November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, we stand by the statement made in terms of re-engaging our forces. We are not in that kind of a situation. I would only caution the hon. member that it is better in difficult circumstances like this to work together. We should not make this a partisan issue, but should work together to assess and evaluate the situation.
This government will do nothing that will endanger the lives of Canadians serving a very noble cause for the United Nations.
Bosnia November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I think we have answered some of these questions before. This is a very dangerous situation in Bosnia and Croatia. We knew the risks. We are doing our job there. We have no intention of pulling our forces out. We have said that we want to see the peace process through. We do believe the safety of our forces is paramount in the final analysis.
At this moment in time thankfully they are in good shape. Negotiations are under way and I have every hope this situation will be resolved shortly.
Situation In Bosnia November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, in a difficult situation like this one I do not think we should speculate about the effects of further air strikes.
NAC was in session today in Brussels. We were engaged in those discussions. We are now being debriefed on the outcome, as to whether or not there is any change in the position of NATO in consultation with the United Nations. As soon as we have further information we will inform the leaders of the other parties.
Situation In Bosnia November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I think that the Leader of the Opposition is quite correct in his analysis. I cannot say whether our troops will be released earlier than in four or five days. It is too early to tell.
It is somewhat premature to speculate on how long our soldiers will be detained. There is no question that it is tied in with the NATO air strikes. There is no question that there is an escalation of rhetoric and threat against UNPROFOR members in general but our personnel in particular. As I said a moment ago they are in good shape. There are negotiations going on between the Bosnian Serb authorities and the Canadian officers on the ground.
Situation In Bosnia November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition gave a very accurate account of the situation. Fifty-five members of the Canadian Armed Forces are presently detained near Visoko, in an area under Bosnian Serb control.
I have been informed that they are well, thank goodness, and that negotiations are under way between the Serbs and the Canadian commanding officer. I hope that the situation will soon be resolved.
Auditor General's Report November 23rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I beg to differ.
First, the Liberal Party in its red book called for a cut in defence spending. We acted on that in the budget. It was done in the budget because we felt we had to discharge our promise right away for the tax year beginning April 1, 1994.
The Auditor General is a very eminent individual and has done a lot of work. We work with him closely at national defence. I believe he acknowledges the fact that we are trying to improve on the suggestions he makes.
Without being disrespectful, I would say that the choice of whether or not we enact certain military expenditures in the budget or otherwise is a political decision made by the Government of Canada and not by the Auditor General.
Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean November 23rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, obviously the hon. member did not hear my previous answer. I stated this yesterday and we have stated it before. We believe absolutely that the financial reasons certainly justify the closure of the two military colleges.
When the hon. member opposite came to the defence committee sometime last spring he was given all the details and he never challenged the facts. In fact once he got them he left and ran away. He did not even challenge the facts.
With respect to the CMR there is no question that our financial figures are exact. With respect to the general question on base closures the department learned from some of the mistakes that were made by the previous government. That is why even though the painful decisions taken in February had to go on, they have gone on reasonably smoothly in the rest of the country.