Jean-Marc Jacob

[Low Level Flights, December 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence. The Department of National Defence proposes to invest over $68.5 million to build new facilities at the base in Goose Bay so that the number of low level flights can increase from the current 8,000 to over 18,000. Yet, there is no new firm contract with participating NATO countries to justify such an investment.

How can the minister be planning to authorize such additional spending to increase the number of flights when he knows full well that the U.S. withdrew from this Canadian agreement in 1991 and that Germany signed an agreement for such flights with New Mexico last May?

[Bosnia, December 6th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the Serbs have promised several times to release the peacekeepers, but it has not happened yet.

Are we to understand that the Bosnian Serbs have not agreed to release the peacekeepers held hostage because the UN refuses to promise that NATO will not launch more air strikes against them?

[Bosnia, December 6th, 1994]

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

While the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe is meeting in Budapest, where the international community is endlessly debating how to make the Bosnian Serbs listen to reason, the Bosnian Serbs themselves continue to thumb their nose at the UN and the major powers. They still refuse to release their 309 detainees, including 55 Canadian peacekeepers.

Does the defence minister confirm that the 55 Canadian peacekeepers held hostage for 13 days have not been released, as the Bosnian Serbs promised, and is this not another proof of the bad faith of the Serbs, who do not honour any of their commitments?

[National Defence, December 1st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the minister that I am quite able to differentiate between submarine and helicopter purchases!

How can the minister explain to Canadian taxpayers that, barely a year after cancelling the EH-101 helicopter contract at an approximate cost of $800 million, he has now decided to buy new helicopters to replace the Sea Kings which last spring were declared fit to fly until the year 2002 by the minister himself?

[National Defence, December 1st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, at a press conference this morning, the minister of defence quickly tabled his white paper without any warning and without regard for the Official Opposition.

The minister of defence announced that, with the holiday season approaching, he intends to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on used military equipment. The defence minister's shopping list includes four used British submarines, helicopters and armoured vehicles.

Now that the cold war is over and that the government must reduce spending, how can the minister dare contemplate at this time the acquisition of used military equipment whose usefulness is highly questionable?

[Auditor General's Report, November 23rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I may remind the minister that the red book also talked about defence conversion and diversification, neither of which has been done.

Instead of being criticized again next year by the Auditor General's office for his ad hoc decision to close the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, would the minister not agree he should support the proposal by the mayor of Saint-Jean which provides for a transition period, in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past?

[Auditor General's Report, November 23rd, 1994]

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

The Auditor General is critical of the Department of National Defence because of its ad hoc approach to closing military bases, and I quote: "The budgetary process provides no opportunity to prepare the labour force or the communities for change, and to plan a strategy for government assistance". That was a reference to the 1994 Budget, not the budget of the previous government.

Will the Minister for National Defence admit that these closings are the result of ad hoc political decision-making that is having a harsh impact on local communities, since it does not include a strategy to help them diversify their economy?

[National Defence, November 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would like the defence minister to understand that whether it is a Quebec company or not, if public funds are wasted, we will denounce it. If officials have told the department that the company was not fulfilling its mandate, the department ought to let the company know.

Are we to understand that in order to hide this waste of public funds, his department has decided to remove the officers responsible for monitoring contract compliance?

[National Defence, November 21st, 1994]

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

Last Friday, the defence minister touted the merits of Unisys, which he said was the best company in the world for providing computer services for Canadian frigates. From 1992 to July 1994, defence department officials in charge of this issue denounced Unisys's incompetence and inability to meet the terms of the contract and deplored the waste of public funds.

How does the minister explain his refusal to follow up on the recommendations of his officials who have repeatedly denounced the waste of public funds in the Unisys matter?

[Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean, November 16th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to see that the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs is thinking about the proposal, which means we can expect the situation to evolve.

As my supplementary, I would like to ask the minister how he and the Minister of National Defence can repeatedly maintain their excuse that closing the Collège militaire de Saint-Jean will mean a savings of $23 million, when it is public knowledge that the real savings will not be more than $10 million, and that only a few years from now, because of the reduction in the number of cadets?