Art Eggleton

[National Defence, November 9th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the defence research establishment in Suffield, Alberta has a particular expertise and reputation with respect to dealing with nuclear, biological and chemical defences. In fact, a year before the anthrax scare started in the United States, it was researching to whole matter of opening envelopes and how we could protect ourselves.

I think because of that, the U.S. centre for disease control in Atlanta has invited an expert team to become part of its efforts to deal with anthrax related tests at the Brentwood mail handling facility in Washington, D.C. Canadians are on the job helping in the anti-terrorism campaign.

[National Defence, November 9th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the Prime Minister has established a committee of the cabinet that looks at security issues.

In the post-September 11 world we know the security environment has changed fundamentally and we have set about making changes. We have put $280 million into upgrades of many our systems. We brought in Bill C-36. There is more work that is still being done to ensure that we are responding to the needs of Canadians to ensure their safety and security and to ensure that we contribute to the anti-terrorism campaign internationally.

[National Defence, November 9th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, immediate attention is needed for fighting terrorism. That is what the Canadian forces and the government are doing.

Eventually, yes, everything needs to be reviewed, there is no doubt about it. However the government is keeping up with what is happening. We are ensuring that we have multi-purpose, combat capable forces. We have invested some $3 billion in the Canadian forces over the last three years.

We are not standing still. We are moving with the times. We are moving with the needs for safety and security of Canadians.

[National Defence, November 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, we want to encourage Canadians to send Christmas wishes or other good wishes to our troops overseas. I would particularly suggest that e-mails or postcards would be most appropriate. We are in fact trying to keep down the number of envelopes, in particular envelopes that do not have return addresses, for obvious security reasons.

[Terrorism, November 8th, 2001]

No, we are not, Mr. Speaker. The government is very concerned about the people of Afghanistan. It is very concerned about getting humanitarian assistance to them. It is very concerned about how in fact they will recover from all of this.

We want to see the Afghan people recover from the kind of terror that is being inflicted on them by the al-Qaeda and by the Taliban. That is what this operation is all about.

[Terrorism, November 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the United Nations, both in general assembly and in the security council, has made it quite clear that the United States and its allies have every right to self-defence under article 51 of the UN charter.

That is exactly what is being done with respect to this campaign in Afghanistan. Every legal operation is being followed and followed correctly. Cluster bombs are only being used against the military because we need to stamp out the al-Qaeda and their Taliban supporters. That is what it is all about.

[National Defence, November 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, that matter has been before the cabinet for some period of time as to what additional resources are needed for the Canadian forces. We have been looking at many of the issues that are in this report, which was issued by the committee yesterday. It was a good piece of work on its part, however the Alliance did not support it.

[Terrorism, November 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, a cluster bomb is quite different from an anti-personnel landmine. An anti-personnel landmine is something that is put in the ground and is something by which future generations can be threatened. We are absolutely opposed to those.

Cluster bombs are not the same thing at all. They are allowed by the legal conventions with respect to the use of weaponry, as long as they are targeted at military installations, and that is exactly what is happening.

[Terrorism, November 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, this has been asked every day and every day the answer is the same. These cluster bombs are aimed at military installations and military personnel. They are not aimed at civilians. There is no intention to hurt the people of Afghanistan. Unfortunately there are accidents, but every effort is being made to reduce those accidents and to continue only to target military personnel and military equipment of the Taliban and of al-Qaeda.

[National Defence, November 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has misread the report, if that is her conclusion.

The Canadian Airborne Regiment is no more and it will be no more. We do have a JTF2. We have all the capabilities that were once in the airborne in other parts of the Canadian forces. The JTF2 continues to provide a very valuable service for Canadians, and it will in the conflict in Afghanistan.