Art Eggleton

[National Defence, May 1st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has raised some valid questions with respect to the proposal that is now before the United States administration.

We are all concerned about these matters both from a defence perspective and also from a perspective of international peace and security. The right questions are being asked.

The United States has not made any decision with respect to the matter. It has not asked Canada to participate. Canada will in due course look at the matter very seriously and the Government of Canada will make a decision on it.

[National Defence, April 13th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member has pointed out, it is an advisory board which I appointed because I want the Canadian forces to be able to better reflect the population which exists today.

I want to make sure that people from all parts of Canada and from all socio-economic groups have an opportunity to be part of this great national institution.

The board has come up with some suggestions which I think are worthwhile. We are looking at them right now. I think we can increase the numbers of people, reach out to them, and do it without quotas and without lowering any of our standards.

It is important to reach out to these people and be inclusive in terms of the Canadian forces.

[Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire, April 12th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I think the House has demonstrated its support for what I have just said. I know all members of the House would join me in paying tribute to Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire, to extend our best wishes and our thanks to him. He has been a great soldier, a great patriot and a great humanitarian.

[Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire, April 12th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire is taking early retirement for health reasons. He has left an enduring mark of dedication and duty to this country and to the Canadian forces.

Rwanda has left a mark on him and on his life. He witnessed the horrors of Rwanda. He witnessed the butchery of Rwanda.

Let us learn the lesson and honour him by saying that we should never allow that kind of thing to happen again.

[National Defence, April 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, there are ongoing consultations which involve myself, the CDS, the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's office. The notion of sending peacekeepers to the Middle East is one that I raised last fall when I was there.

We will continue to look at and assess this situation. We want to be of help, as we have traditionally been. We have less troops out there internationally now than we did a year ago. We have brought it down to a more reasonable level and we are ready to respond when the call comes.

[National Defence, April 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, we have a proud record in terms of peacekeeping in the Middle East. In fact we have the command position at this point in time in the Golan Heights. It is because the United Nations knows that Canada is dependable and can do a good job in peacekeeping. That is what the Prime Minister was saying.

We have an interest in the Middle East and continue to have one. We want to be of help. If the UN puts a mission together we want to be there and be part of it, but of course we will do the usual checks, including risk assessment, to make sure it is an acceptable level.

[National Defence, April 10th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, we have a proud tradition of assisting and establishing peace and security in the Middle East, in the Sinai, in the Golden Heights and many other areas.

If we are called upon, as the Prime Minister has indicated, we will give it very careful consideration. We will certainly look at the risk assessment. We do not know at this point in time how many troops because there is no UN mission. We have not been asked at this point in time. Certainly, given our tradition, we will look at it very carefully as the Prime Minister has indicated.

[Cfb Petawawa, April 6th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is absolutely right. It is a scandalous rumour. We have no intention of closing it. I have been there a couple of times in the last couple of years opening new buildings and facilities which we put millions of dollars into. It indicates the importance of that base.

Furthermore, many of the personnel, the troops from that base, are presently serving this country well in Kosovo. We should be congratulating them for their great work.

CFB Petawawa will continue to be a major base in the operations of our military.

[National Defence, April 5th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has it wrong. What we have here is state of the art equipment. What she is talking about is the fact that when the state of the art equipment was sent over, it was not properly prepared in terms of its mission in Kosovo in the initial instance.

The memo that the hon. member notes was sent last fall. In fact, a course of action was taken very quickly.

We do have the best possible equipment. In fact, the American army wants to borrow some of it because it thinks it is the best in the world.

[National Defence, April 4th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, we are still considering the enhanced leadership program. It is a program that we want to put into effect as quickly as possible. It is one of many recommendations to help with the improvement of officership development in the Canadian forces.

We are still looking at the location. We are looking very carefully at the location the hon. member has mentioned in Saint Jean and I hope we have an answer very soon on that.