David Collenette

[National Defence, October 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member displays his ignorance about the role of the armed forces. That was obviously seen in the manifesto of the Bloc Quebecois in the last election when it called for a 25 per cent cut in defence expenditures and then objected to cuts when they occurred.

With respect to the William Tell exercise this is a normal exercise by the Canadian air force and it involves the firing of live missiles which cannot be done in Canada and can be done under the auspices of a bilateral training agreement we have with the United States. This is nothing abnormal, it is done quite frequently.

[National Defence, October 17th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have said on a number of occasions that we will have to replace the Sea Kings and the Labradors, which have a lifecycle up to the year 2000, but we would like to look at what kind of replacements will be required as soon as the defence review is out of the way.

As with all major government procurement, we try to have the industrial benefits accrue to all regions of the country. I am sure this will apply in any future defence contracts that are let.

[National Defence, October 17th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, when we rolled out the new tactical helicopter on Friday at Mirabel there was a press conference where obviously my comments were somewhat misconstrued. We have not changed our position.

We cancelled the HE-101 not because of the fact that it was not a good helicopter but that it was too expensive and too rich for our needs. We now have a defence review under way and the government is absolutely adamant that there will be no decision taken. Cabinet will not be seized of the issue until the defence review takes place. The hon. member is a member of that defence committee. No decision will take place until we know the priorities the defence review will set down.

In dealing with our helicopter needs, we have a search and rescue capability and an airborne ship capability that have to be fulfilled. We are looking to the guidance of the parliamentary committee and consultations that I am having before we go to cabinet with a specific recommendation.

[National Defence, October 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) and an undertaking I made last Monday in the House, I would like to table in both official languages a document entitled: "Executive Floor Refit".

[Veterans Affairs, October 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we are looking at ways to speed up the processing of veterans claims. For too long veterans have found they have had to wait two or three years before particular decisions are adjudicated. We are looking at making structural and legislative changes. The hon. member and the House will be advised in due course as to when we will bring forward those changes.

[Department Of National Defence, October 3rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, one of the problems we have in government is that there are from time to time disgruntled employees. In this case there was a leak from the department about certain renovations.

Those renovations to the executive suite of defence I believe can be fully justified. I will make all the documents available to the hon. member. I will table them in the House.

We have to keep some perspective here. It is not cheap to run a government. It requires that administrative measures be taken. In this case the expenses were fully justifiable.

[Department Of National Defence, October 3rd, 1994]

If he would listen, it is separate from the larger question that the hon. member has a right to be concerned about. There were irregularities in contracting. There was harassment. There were management practices that were wrong.

The Lagueux report, an arm's length report from a senior ADM in the department, uncovered these wrongdoings. In one case there was a criminal prosecution. In the other there were dismissals.

The hon. member has all the facts. I think he now has read the Lagueux report. In no way does this implicate any of the senior officials in the department. The fact is in a big organization like defence or any corporate organization there are going to be problems. When we see that the problem is there, where we find irregularities, we deal with them. Some people were dismissed, one person was charged and subsequently convicted.

[Department Of National Defence, October 3rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, when he gave his response last week in my absence was absolutely correct in that he believed the question was pertaining to allegations of wrongdoing by senior officials in the department such as the deputy minister or assistant deputy minister.

I want to assure the House that no such wrongdoing has been proven in any way and I have full confidence in the senior officials and my deputy minister.

Second, on the question of the renovations of the deputy minister's office this is really an Order Paper question that is separate from the larger question that the hon. member-

[Defence Industry Conversion, October 3rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, again the hon. member has his facts wrong because my colleague, the minister of intergovernmental services, negotiated an agreement with the former Government of Quebec dealing with the transition of the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean. It is a provincial institution whereby certain language instruction and military activity would continue. That costs money. I believe that most of the money we allocated to FORD-Q under the

auspices of the mitigation program went for that particular settlement.

Even saying that, I should remind the hon. member that the share of military spending in Quebec actually increased from 19 per cent to 22 per cent as a result of the budget because everywhere else in the country was hit even worse.

[Defence Industry Conversion, October 3rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member does not have his facts straight. There was an equitable distribution of mitigation moneys.

Leading up to the budget earlier this year on February 22, I said that there would be no mitigating measures the likes of Summerside and GST centres replacing lost economic activity at military bases. There were some moneys available, about $50-odd million that defence made available on a regional basis to the ministers concerned: western diversification, FORD-Q, minister of industry for Ontario and the minister of government services for the maritimes. There was an equitable distribution of those moneys.