Art Eggleton

[National Defence, February 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have made it very clear on a number of occasions that we will not allow any aircraft to fly unless it is safe to fly. To the Canadian forces and to the government the safety of our air crews is of the utmost importance.

In this case there have been start-up problems with the engines when they start them on the ground. That matter has been identified and it is in fact being rectified. Meanwhile, as I indicated earlier, we continue in the final stages of our procurement strategy for replacement helicopters.

[National Defence, February 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the last questioner and this questioner has one thing in common. People believe things they read in the newspapers which are not necessarily the case. In this case it is not true. The $750 million figure we gave is the correct figure.

[Kosovo, February 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I never said such nonsense at all.

I talked about parliamentary consultation when we are going to deploy troops. If we are going to deploy troops it is something we would continue to want to do.

[National Defence, February 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has been told many times that we are developing a procurement strategy with respect to the replacement of the Sea King helicopters. We are in the final stages of doing that.

The government is very anxious to make sure that our troops have the tools they need to do the job and that they are able to have safe equipment to operate.

[National Defence, February 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, this is coming from a party that in the election campaign wanted to cut another $1 billion from defence.

What the government has done is invested in new search and rescue helicopters. It has invested in new submarines and life extension programs for the CF-18s. It has bought new armoured personnel carries. This is to make sure that our troops have the tools they need to do the job.

[National Defence, February 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, no decision has been made with respect to Kosovo. Preliminary discussions are going on now as to the possible use of ground troops. Should an agreement come out of the discussions in Rambouillet that would result in ground forces going into Kosovo, at that time the government will make a decision with parliamentary consultation.

It is a question of priority. If that is where we feel our troops should be then that is where we can put them to help end the bloodshed in Kosovo.

[National Defence, February 9th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, all of those questions have been answered and I think the member well knows the answers.

Nobody was given anything that was stale-dated or mouldy or anything else that would be harmful to them. It was all tested and re-tested and medical professionals approved the ultimate giving of those inoculations.

[National Defence, February 9th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to hear that some people are still experiencing difficulties in this regard. I am sure that our people in the medical profession of the Canadian forces would want to do everything they can to assist them.

The vast majority of people who took the anthrax serum had no problems whatsoever. The United States forces, which had the same serum, had a very small percentage of people who had any reaction at all.

Our medical people believed that was is a safe serum to administer. Given the threats that existed in the gulf at the time it was the appropriate thing to do as a safeguard.

[Kosovo, February 9th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I indicated yesterday that preliminary plans were being developed by the NATO military command with the possibility of there being a peacekeeping force in Kosovo if it should be agreed upon in the peace agreement talks now going on in Rambouillet, France. If that becomes the case then Canada certainly would consider what possible role it could take part in.

[Kosovo, February 8th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, our peacekeepers have served us quite proudly wherever they have served throughout the world.

In Kosovo we are facing a situation of enormous proportions in terms of human tragedy. If indeed there is a peacekeeping mission, if one is decided upon and agreed upon and deployed, then I would think Canadians would want us to be a part of it. We will go through a proper process to determine to do that. If it is a high enough priority, we will certainly find the resources to do so.