Jean-Marc Jacob

[Somalia Inquiry, April 30th, 1996]

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

Yesterday the government lawyer objected to the Somalia inquiry being able to do its work properly. Today, the government must backtrack before the general outcry in reaction to this new attempt at a cover-up.

Are we to understand that the minister of defence shares fully the opinion of the head of the commission that the commission's mandate with respect to allegations of cover-up and destruction of evidence extends beyond the period initially foreseen and that it therefore includes allegations that a cover-up took place and is perhaps still taking place under the present government?

[Somalia Inquiry, April 24th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, on a number of occasions the minister has replied that we must wait, but now we have the proof that the chief of defence staff did not carry out his duties.

With this new cover-up, which severely undermines the chief of defence staff's credibility and by extension that of the entire armed forces, what more is the minister waiting for to suspend him temporarily from his duties, so that we can get to the bottom of this business once and for all?

[Somalia Inquiry, April 24th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, documents submitted this morning to the commission of inquiry indicate that the chief of defence staff, Jean Boyle, had indeed received a memo addressed directly to him suggesting that the information to be handed over on Somalia be modified, contrary to what he told the military police last December, when the current minister was in office.

Since this memo was directly addressed to Mr. Boyle, how can the minister justify that it was not handed over to the commission of inquiry at the very beginning and that, in order to obtain it, it was necessary to mobilize the entire army in an unprecedented search? How does the minister explain that?

[Department Of National Defence, April 17th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I do not appreciate the minister's answer at all. But, as long as a search is on, can the minister tell us why, once again, important documents have mysteriously disappeared from the armed forces' filing cabinets, as in the Somalia affair?

[Department Of National Defence, April 17th, 1996]

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

In 1993, Corporal David Gunther from Quebec died in Bosnia. Once again, the department of defence found a way to come up with two conflicting stories to explain to his family how he had died.

In the first statement dated June 18, 1993, DND said Corporal Gunther had been killed by fragments from a mortar shell that blew up near his vehicle, while a second statement dated the same day listed the cause of death as an anti-tank missile that made a direct hit on his vehicle.

How does the minister explain once again his department's habit of coming up with two different stories?

[Somalia Inquiry, April 16th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, beyond the cover-up operation, which is becoming increasingly obvious, and regardless of all the muddle and the incompetence surrounding the management of the Somalia issue, how can the minister justify to the population that such important documents have disappeared and are still nowhere to be found? Are we to expect another search?

[Somalia Inquiry, April 16th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of National Defence.

We heard yesterday that, in spite of the search within the defence, department, 20 per cent of all documents relating to the Canadian mission in Somalia are still missing.

While records of daily activities of the first commando were allegedly too damaged by sea water, key records of the second and third commandos are still missing.

After the wide search which cost taxpayers several million dollars and where some 100,000 employees of the defence department were mobilized to go through all their files with a fine-tooth comb, can the minister tell us what he intends to do to locate the files that are still missing?

[Department Of National Defence, April 15th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the Prime Minister just said, the existence of the files was known when the Conservative Party was in power. General John Anderson said so.

They keep saying that they still trust the minister and General Boyle, when everyone has lost confidence in the Canadian Forces. It could be said that, as recently as last weekend, the whole world was making fun of Canada because of the search for documents ordered by the minister.

[Department Of National Defence, April 15th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

Contrary to what the minister just said, the commission adjourned this morning because it was dissatisfied with the level of co-operation from the Department of National Defence and the minister himself. This is unacceptable.

Does the Prime Minister feel his defence minister is still trustworthy despite his lack of co-operation in the Somalia inquiry and the fact that the minister himself had General Boyle appointed to the position of Chief of the Defence Staff, supposedly to restore public trust?

[Privilege, March 13th, 1996]

And that of the Reform Party.