Jack Frazer

[National Defence, September 28th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, there are many discrepancies revealed in the Lagueux report that indicate poor management practices within the department. People inside and outside the department are aware of the allegations and are unhappy with the implications.

In the interest of morale and confidence in the system will the parliamentary secretary commit the government to commissioning an outside, unbiased, professional investigation to settle the matter once and for all?

[National Defence, September 28th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked for an explanation of questionable practices within the defence department. Most glaring was a $327,000 contract in connection with the deputy minister's office.

This figure could in fact be much higher. A departmental answer to an access to information request suggests that additional costs have been camouflaged by splitting invoices between several agencies.

Does the Prime Minister agree that this is an unusual practice? Will he tell us how much money was involved in these purchases, and if those figures are not now available will he commit to making them public when he has them?

[National Defence, September 27th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the problem is not just one of excessive spending; it appears that the department compounded its sins in trying to hide the report by classifying it "protected C".

According to the Treasury Board guidelines "protected C" is reserved for extremely sensitive information which might cause extremely serious injury such as loss of life.

Will the minister agree that this seems to place DND in a position of deliberately trying to conceal information?

[National Defence, September 27th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have a 1992 internal report which examined mismanagement in the Department of National Defence and raised the spectre of abuse and cover up.

The deputy minister's office was renovated at a cost of $327,000. This contract was awarded without tender and concealed under a completely different project in order, and I quote from the report, "to hide the cost of the DM refit which would be considered excessive by the public".

Can the Prime Minister tell the House what action the government has taken to correct this bureaucratic mismanagement within the defence department?

[Petitions, September 23rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 it is my duty and honour to rise in the House to present two petitions duly certified by the Clerk of Petitions on behalf of the constituents of Saanich-Gulf Islands and surrounding areas.

In both these petitions the petitioners humbly pray and call upon Parliament to ensure that the present provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada prohibiting assisted suicide remain in force.

[Petitions, September 21st, 1994]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 it is my duty and honour to rise in the House to present a petition duly certified by the clerk of petitions on behalf of constituents of Saanich-Gulf Islands, Victoria and Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca.

The petitioners humbly pray and call upon Parliament to enact legislation providing for a referendum of the people, binding upon Parliament, to accept or reject two official languages, English and French, for the government and the people of Canada.

[Canadian Volunteer Service Medal For United Nations Peacekeeping Act, June 9th, 1994]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-258, an act respecting the establishment and award of the Canadian volunteer service medal and clasp for United Nations peacekeeping to Canadians serving with a United Nations peacekeeping force.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is introduced to correct an oversight that occurs at the moment. At this time the United Nations issues medals to Canadians who serve on peacekeeping activities. At some time after the issue of that United Nations medal, the Governor General declares that medal to be a Canadian medal. Many of our peacekeepers feel that this is not truly a Canadian recognition and therefore there is a desire among them to be recognized by the issue of a Canadian medal.

Also included in this bill is the clasp which would provide visual recognition of the great honour that was bestowed on Canada by our peacekeepers when they won the Nobel peace award on September 30, 1988. This bill would provide a clasp on the medal which would show those people who had earned that award.

All Canadians are justifiably proud of our contribution to peacekeeping and it is fit and proper that we provide pure Canadian recognition of their contribution to our world esteem.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

[Committees Of The House, June 9th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I believe you will find there is unanimous consent to waive the 48-hour requirement for introduction of this bill.

[D-Day, June 6th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, on the sixth of June, 1944 Canadians joined allied forces in the assault on Festung Europa, Fortress Europe, a continent held for more than four years in the iron grip of the Axis forces: Adolf Hitler's Third Reich and Benito Mussolini's fascist regime.

Prior to the D-Day invasion Canadians had twice been engaged against the Axis: at Dieppe on August 19, 1942 and in the Italian campaign which started with the invasion of Sicily on July 10, 1943.

In these previous actions Canadians took heavy casualties but established themselves as a formidable adversary; determined, courageous and effective fighting troops, respected and feared by their opponents.

On D-Day the five Normandy beaches to be assaulted were designated Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. On this, the longest day, more than 150,000 allied soldiers would complete their crossing from England to occupied France.

Inland over 23,000 U.S. paratroopers had jumped into battle while another 57,000 American soldiers landed on the beaches designated Utah and Omaha.

Concurrently British and Canadian troops had jumped or landed in gliders while 60,000 British and 15,000 Canadian troops joined the assault on the beaches, the British on Gold and Sword while the Canadian came ashore on Juno. Thus, one in ten of the allied forces landed in the D-Day invasion was Canadian.

This ratio carried through to the total Canadian population with over one million of Canada's 11 million people in uniform and behind them was a Canadian public committed to supporting the war effort. Canadians were united in rejecting the totalitarian forces of Germany, Italy and Japan, a regime which had it not been effectively opposed would have subjected the world to a reign of terror, discrimination and oppression.

Canada's D-Day success resulted from a combined effort of navy, army and air force units, 109 ships and 10,000 sailors, 15,000 soldiers and 37 RCAF squadrons working as a team.

Canadians achieved two firsts during the Normandy campaign. The Canadian 7th Brigade was the first formation to reach its D-Day goal, and 441, 442 and 443 squadrons RCAF were the first to commence air operations from French soil since the allied 1940 withdrawal from France.

The Canadians who went ashore at Dieppe, at Pachino, at Normandy and those who fought to liberate the rest of Europe considered themselves ordinary people but they were willing to jeopardize their all to support a cause in which they believed.

I want to conclude with a quote from Jack Granatstein's book, Normandy, 1944 where, speaking of Canadians who landed on D-Day, it is said:

They were not all saints. They were not all heroes. But there were saints and heroes among them. Remember them and remember their achievements.

[Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial, June 6th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to make it plain that over 10,000 Canadians served in the American forces in Vietnam; hundreds of them lost their lives.

Canadians have placed a memorial at Arlington to honour Americans who served in the Canadian Armed Forces during the second world war. We would like the minister to allow Americans to honour Canadians who served with the American forces in Vietnam.