House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 71% of the vote.
Acquisition Of Submarines April 2nd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, we always believe first and foremost in investing in people, investing in what the people of Canada need and the sovereignty of the people of Canada. Protection of that sovereignty is part and parcel of that. We believe in giving our Canadian forces quality equipment because they are quality people doing a quality job.
As to the specifics of this matter, the matter is still under discussion with the government of the U.K. I have nothing further to add at this time.
Acquisition Of Submarines April 2nd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, we are still in discussions with the British with respect to this matter. When those discussions are finalized, we will have an announcement to make one way or the other.
National Defence April 1st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I got the impression she was about to give me a compliment when you cut her off.
There were no complaints about the companies that were bidding on this until after the bids were opened and the award was announced. Everybody understood the process and nobody complained about it. They just did not like the results.
The result is that it is going to save the taxpayers some $20 million a year. Given that our department and armed forces have fewer resources, we need that kind of savings.
Goose Bay is used by our allies in terms of air force training. We would have lost this facility if we had not remained competitive. That is the reason—
National Defence April 1st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, we are in the process of implementing the budget cuts that were announced two or three years ago.
In fact over 40,000 people have left the public service as a result of downsizing, but we did it with departure incentive packages that gave them early retirement. It gave them departure incentive. It gave them additional training. We are doing the same thing in all these cases as well. Because we have fewer resources, we need to keep them for the core functions of our Canadian forces and thereby cut the costs of the support services. However, we will do it in a fair and humane way.
National Defence April 1st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, there was a full and open transparent process with guidelines that were published. Everyone was aware of what the rules were for the bid. Nobody because they had connections offshore were ruled out from bidding.
In fact the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs is going to have a full discussion this afternoon on the issue of alternate service delivery. The hon. member will have every opportunity to ask all sorts of detailed questions about it.
National Defence April 1st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member needs to be reminded that we inherited from his party a $42 billion deficit. As a result of that, we had to cut expenditures in all of our departments and programs to get the budget in balance.
That meant a 23% reduction in the Department of National Defence. We had to implement that by looking for more efficient and effective ways of providing support services for the Canadian forces. We have been very humane and fair in our treatment of employees giving them incentive departure packages and finding other employment opportunities for them.
Communications Security Establishment March 31st, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I do not know exactly what information the hon. member is looking for. There is information that has been filed. Obviously the kind of business that the Communications Security Establishment is in puts some limitations on it. But I would certainly be happy to talk further with the hon. member to find out what he is looking for.
National Defence March 27th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I applaud the hon. member and the committee for the fine work they are doing. The government is listening.
I am pleased to advise the House today that there will be two adjustments to pay made for our services personnel effective April 1. One deals with a catch-up with public service salary rates of 1.2% and the other is an economic increase of some 2%.
This means that over the past two years, accumulatively, the increases have been 9.3% for non-commissioned members and 9.4% for general service officers.
National Defence March 27th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I do not agree with the preamble to the question. What is at stake here is the survival of Goose Bay and we have been able to save it. We have been able to cut our costs down to make the operation more efficient and effective and at the same time to treat people in a fair and humane way. That is what this is about. We have less resources now in national defence. We want to make sure that we use those resources for our core functions and that we use those resources in the most efficient and effective way. That is what we are doing here and that is what we will continue to do in other parts of the country.
We will consult with our employees. We will consult with the unions. We will make sure we do it in a fair and humane way.
Transport March 27th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. We have highly professional and dedicated people in sufficient numbers to ensure that the kind of service that needs to be provided in British Columbia by the Canadian forces is present in that province.