House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 67% of the vote.
Communications Security Establishment October 25th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have already
said, I must assure the House that the CSE is not authorized to target Canadians, including political parties.
With respect to the specific aspect of the hon. member's question, we do not believe it is in the national interest to talk about the administration and the methods employed by CSE.
Communications Security Establishment October 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I totally reject any implication carried in the hon. member's question.
Communications Security Establishment October 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, with respect to the Prime Minister's remarks on Saturday I believe that the Deputy Prime Minister's response covered that quite adequately.
As far as the operations of CSE are concerned, we do not target the communications of Canadians, pure and simple. Beyond that I will not say anything else.
National Defence October 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, first of all concerning the Auditor General, at any one time in national defence the Auditor General is conducting between seven and twelve audits.
The Auditor General has known about the situation in that particular administrative unit for a couple of years and has been briefed on how the department is dealing with it. At no time has he felt that a further investigation was warranted. If the Auditor General wishes to conduct such an investigation, he may certainly do so.
As far as morale is concerned, Mr. Speaker, when you get a unit with about 45 or 50 people in it, where there have been allegations of misappropriation of funds, where there have been allegations of harassment and improper contracting practices, where a criminal charge has been laid and somebody is convicted, of course that hurts morale.
I would ask the hon. member not to contribute to trying to make morale, which is otherwise good in the national defence department, seem any less secure than it really is by the misguided charges that he and his colleagues have been making over the last number of weeks.
National Defence October 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I should emphasize that all of these activities predate this government. We are very concerned with ensuring that all matters pertaining to the administration of the Department of National Defence are done in an appropriate manner.
With respect to my comments earlier in the House, we were talking in the context of the deputy minister and assistant deputy ministers. I do recognize that senior people at the level of DG have been disciplined. There was one unfortunate occurrence to which the hon. member referred.
I should also say, because the hon. member and his colleagues seem to believe there is something being hidden, that the Auditor General has been fully aware of this file for the past year or two. He has been kept fully abreast of all the details pertaining to this matter. Indeed he has the right to initiate any inquiry-in fact, I would invite him to do so-if he feels that the actions being taken internally are insufficient.
Those actions have involved the RCMP, the Public Service Commission and other internal investigative organizations in government. It means that if the Auditor General wishes to initiate an investigation he may do so. All he has to do is let our officials know.
Communications Security Establishment October 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I gave the answer. I am sorry the hon. member does not understand it.
The Communications Security Establishment reports to the Minister of National Defence who is a member of cabinet and who answers to this House of Commons.
Communications Security Establishment October 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I think that the government has been quite forthcoming with answers on this particular matter given the fact that we are dealing in areas which are somewhat sensitive and deal with our relations with our allies.
With respect to the CSE in particular, it is a fully constituted part of the Department of National Defence. Its budget is included in the departmental estimates. If the hon. member has any specific questions he can come to the defence committee and ask questions.
The Minister of National Defence is accountable to the House of Commons. Certainly I am prepared to answer questions in committee on the security establishment.
The answers that were given by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Prime Minister are accurate. The CSE complies with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Criminal Code, the Privacy Act and Canadian human rights legislation. In fact in 1987 the former privacy commissioner, Mr. John Grace, had an examination made of CSE's activities and found that all was in order and all was compliant with Canadian law.
Bosnia October 21st, 1994
Mr. Speaker, we regret the injuries and indeed the deaths of any of our Canadian soldiers. The incident to which the hon. member refers was a particularly nasty one.
It is not the government's policy nor that of the armed forces of Canada to pick sides in this conflict. We are there under the auspices of the United Nations to help with humanitarian aid to give the peace process a real chance. It is easy to assume that one particular side is guilty of an attack or another. Quite frankly sometimes we are not sure whom to believe in these cases.
It is better for us to concentrate our efforts to try to protect our soldiers the best way possible, and where we do know that an attack has come from one side or another, make a protest through the United Nations.
Bosnia October 21st, 1994
Mr. Speaker, we do not underestimate the dangers that our troops face in that theatre of conflict. We were fully cognizant of it before we renegotiated the mandate for the next six months. In fact members of the House had an opportunity to express their concerns.
We believe that a real peace effort is possible in the former Yugoslavian republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina. For that reason we have deployed our troops for the further six-month period.
Intergovernmental Affairs October 18th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the answer is no.