Douglas Young

[Somalia Inquiry, October 7th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, that question was put to me earlier. I will address it again because it is an important one.

I want to be very careful about not appearing to interfere in any way in the work of the commission of inquiry. We will look at whether there are some approaches that might be appropriate and considered that way by members of the commission. We will take into account all the suggestions that are made.

There is one thing I want to stress today. The hon. member made reference to the length of time the chief of the defence staff has been in office. I ask him to consider, and I ask Canadians generally to consider, whether we can envisage the commission of inquiry working on a very lengthy agenda into six months, a year, a year and a half and what impact that also might have on the morale and the capacity of the armed forces to function.

There are a couple of questions that are implicit in the one the hon. member has just put which we will have to address. I will certainly take his views into account as we come to a final determination.

[Somalia Inquiry, October 7th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, first let me thank my hon. friend for his congratulations. I look forward to working with him and with other members of the the House who have the best interests of the Canadian Armed Forces at heart.

As I go through this phase, let me suggest to him, to a lot of people at national defence headquarters, to a lot of people across the country in the forces themselves as well as to all the public servants, I do not expect to be able to master all of this in a very short period of time but I am going to work very hard at it.

I want to assure my hon. friend that we will take into account all of the suggestions, all of the recommendations. I will be very careful in doing that. I want to make sure that I am fair and as equitable as possible.

I do not have any prejudice or axe to grind in any of this. I look forward to working with those members of Parliament who believe, as I do and as I can tell my hon. friend does from his question, that the objective of the exercise is to make sure that the men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces know what is expected of them, that we provide them with a mandate they can understand and work within and that we provide them with the financial and human resources to carry out that mandate.

[Canadian Armed Forces, October 7th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, one of the principal reasons we have been involved during the past several months in the process of determining what went wrong in Somalia is because the government and my predecessor had the will power, the commitment and the courage to institute a commission of inquiry.

I want to point out something to my hon. friend that I believe is very important to Canadians. It is not just what went on in terms of communicating information and indicating whether or not appropriate information was being made available on inquiry, as important as that is. What is far more important, what I believe after some 72 hours of having been asked to do this job, and what I believe my hon. friend believes as well is that Canadians find out what happened in Somalia. What went so wrong that Canadians have been shocked and disgusted by what took place in Somalia?

We are going to find out what happened in Somalia.

[Canadian Armed Forces, October 7th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, if the objective of the exercise in which we are involved is simply to attach blame to one or two individuals or to indicate that there were problems such as the hon. member describes, then surely the inquiry at some point will tell us what it thinks is the appropriate remedy.

I want to suggest respectfully to my colleague that the armed forces and Canada are faced by a major crisis. One person or two people being involved or being singled out for special attention, especially when they are in positions of leadership, is understandable. But I believe the problems in the Canadian Armed Forces go far beyond just a couple of people who, for whatever reason, are being singled out for special attention today and have been for some weeks. I am not going to be drawn into that at this point.

I began my work this morning by meeting with the chief of the defence staff and the deputy minister. What I have said to them and will say to my hon. friend is that what we do will have one objective. I hope that together we can make sure that the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces work in an environment where they have a mandate and the people of Canada through Parliament give them the resources to carry out that mandate.

[Canadian Armed Forces, October 7th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, my predecessor is an honourable man and he chose a course of action which was made very clear when he reviewed a situation which he has thoroughly explained and which was covered by the rules of conduct for ministers of the crown.

I want to assure my hon. friend I am convinced that many members of the House on all sides and from all political parties, have one objective in mind and that is to try to do what is right and what is responsible with respect to protecting the reputation of the Canadian Armed Forces, a reputation gained through great trials and tribulations over this past century.

I intend-and I have given this undertaking-to do everything I can, and I hope that he will join with us, to make sure that everything we do is designed to try to improve the conditions of work for the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces and to make sure they do the job which Canadians expect of them.

[Canadian Armed Forces, October 7th, 1996]

No, Mr. Speaker.

[Canadian Armed Forces, October 7th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I think one must be very careful in trying to tell the Somalia inquiry how it should run its business.

I take good note of the hon. member's suggestion, which was also raised by other members in this House, that there should perhaps be an interim report on certain issues that have already been looked at by the inquiry.

I am sure the hon. member will agree with me that we should avoid doing anything that would bring into question the Somalia inquiry's integrity and impartiality.

[Canadian Armed Forces, October 7th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, we intend to do everything necessary in order to restore the confidence of the armed forces. I am not as certain as the hon. member that the men and women in the armed forces are all in disarray.

We admit that we have major problems, but this extends well beyond the scope of the Somalia inquiry. This is necessary, and my predecessor was in the process of taking decisions that might improve the situation of the armed forces, for example with respect to the purchase of new equipment and all sorts of other measures to be implemented in the coming weeks.

We will do everything necessary to restore to the Canadian Armed Forces the reputation they have earned over the years. It will not be an easy task, but we will give it our all.

[Canadian Armed Forces, October 7th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that the member has described a situation that was very difficult for my predecessor, the former defence minister. He was, however, in a situation where he was advised that the rules were clear and that what he had done was not consistent with the existing rules. He decided to hand in his resignation, and I am sorry to see him go.

As for the situations being looked at in the Somalia inquiry and the allegations that have been made, the commission is still hearing testimony, and we will respect the conclusions of this inquiry.

General Boyle, however, was in a situation that was rather different from that facing my predecessor.

[Canadian Armed Forces, October 7th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, in the last few days the Department of National Defence has undergone considerable changes. I had an opportunity this morning to meet with General Boyle and the deputy minister of the department.

I can well understand the hon. member's remarks regarding the distress that exists within the armed forces. We will do everything possible to make adjustments within the existing system in order to restore the confidence of the men and women working in the armed forces.

That may take a while. Furthermore, it is my view that my predecessor did a remarkable job. I am very sorry to see him go. We will proceed in a reasonable and responsible manner.