Jean-Marc Jacob

[National Defence, February 20th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.

The Ottawa Sun reports that three generals intervened directly during the military police inquiry into events in Somalia implicating enlisted personnel and officers of the Airborne Regiment in Petawawa.

Can the defence minister confirm that three generals did intervene directly in the military police inquiry to protest the way the military police had conducted its activities in the case of Lieutenant-Colonel Carol Mathieu, claiming that those conducting the inquiry were going too far?

[National Defence, February 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I still think that the minister did not answer my question. I asked him if there had been other similar activities. I did not get an answer.

Did the Minister of National Defence issue directives to Canadian Forces officers forbidding them to organize activities similar to the Eagle River exercise and, if so, will he table them in this House?

[National Defence, February 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.

Yesterday in this House, in responding to a question I asked him, the Minister of National Defence did not seem to know about the Eagle River exercise, which is nothing but a sumptuous fishing trip at Canadian taxpayers' expense.

Did the Minister of National Defence make inquiries and can he assure us that there was no Eagle River exercise or any other similar activity in 1994?

[English]

[National Defence, February 14th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I will have to tell the minister what is going on in his department. How can the minister of defence, in this time of fiscal restraint, not realize that the Eagle River exercise was a sham, designed to hide a sumptuous fishing trip to Labrador for senior officers of the Canadian army, at a cost of over $1.6 million for taxpayers in 1993?

[National Defence, February 14th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of defence.

The latest information revealed regarding the Petawawa incidents shows that the minister of defence does not know what is going on in his department. Incidentally, we have been waiting, since last fall, for a reply from the minister regarding the use of an Airbus A-310 by generals who went to Florida to go play a game of golf during Operation William Tell.

Will the minister of defence tell us whether he knows anything about the Canadian army's Eagle River exercise?

[National Defence, February 9th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, may I remind the minister that we must distinguish between the events in Somalia and the events in Petawawa. Section 45 of the National Defence Act authorizes him to establish a commission of inquiry immediately, rather than disband the regiment and wash his hands of the affair and punish no one except enlisted men.

How can the minister claim to deserve the confidence of this House and of the public when, on the very day he set about disbanding the Airborne Regiment, he concealed from the public the existence of a third tape?

[National Defence, February 9th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I would like to say to the minister that if this tape does not contain anything of serious concern, it should be made public and we will see for ourselves. It is being held by military police and no one can deny that.

Last December, the minister of defence announced that a commission of inquiry was being established to investigate the events in Somalia involving soldiers of the Airborne Regiment of Petawawa. In spite of additional events which further exacerbate the situation, the minister did not deem it necessary to take immediate measures.

How can the minister of defence justify not yet having established a commission of inquiry into the actions of the Airborne Regiment although section 45 of the National Defence Act gives him full authority to do so?

[National Defence, February 8th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I think that the minister forgot to answer part of my question. I also asked him for an investigation into the events on the base itself.

My second question is this: Does the defence minister confirm that, in a recent investigation, the military police seized a third videotape whose content may be more violent and even more shocking than the two previous ones? Can the minister promise that this new tape will not be destroyed like some of the evidence relating to the events in Somalia, which has vanished?

[National Defence, February 8th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.

On March 16, 1994, I asked the defence minister in this House how senior officers at CFB Petawawa could let 2nd Airborne Commando members go around the base displaying Nazi flags on Canadian Forces vehicles as well as white supremacist and Ku Klux Klan insignia. Almost one year later, the broadcasting of revealing videos spurred the minister into action.

Can the defence minister assure us that the board of inquiry's mandate will not be limited to the events in Somalia because, if it is, we must conclude that dismantling the Airborne Regiment will allow the officers and NCMs who have committed unacceptable acts to avoid punishment by being redeployed to other regiments or even decorated?

[Low Level Flights, December 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of this environmental study, how can the minister still contemplate spending $68.5 million on this project based on an environmental study whose process is biased and which is being boycotted by the Innu, Naskapi, Attikamek and Montagnais?