Christine Moore

[National Defence, May 10th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, if I understand correctly, the Conservatives were not telling us the truth before. They were giving us information that may not have been verified. Now, at least, we may have made some progress, since they are telling us the truth. However, the truth is that we still do not have an answer. So, I am not sure if this can really be considered progress or not.

I would like to come back to one last question: which plane?

In July 2010, the Conservatives announced that Canada would be purchasing 65 F-35s and, until the beginning of this year, they were assuring us that only the F-35 could meet our operational requirements.

We have learned that, for now, the F-35 does not meet all those requirements, particularly, in terms of the 360-degree helmet display. What is more, we do not know whether these planes will ever be able to meet those requirements.

Since that time, the Conservatives have changed their tune. The ministers are saying that a definite choice has not been made. But it is 2012. If the government wants to have an operational fleet in 2020, I hope that it will examine the possibilities very carefully.

I would therefore like to know whether the government has definitely decided against the F-35 and whether it is aware that the only way to—

[National Defence, May 10th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I still have not received a response to the question I asked on February 15 about the F-35s and the government's plan B. Of course, the debate has gone on in the House, but there are still many contradictions that have not been explained.

When we ask about these contradictions, we ask simple questions such as “Why does the government not have a plan B?” and “When will we get these aircraft?”. I would like to point out, from the outset, that the government has said that we need to replace our old fleet of CF-18s by 2020. This is something we all agree on.

According to the government, the fleet will be too old to be in acceptable condition to fly after 2020 and the cost of maintaining the CF-18s so that they could continue to be used would be astronomical. The government has also assured us that the Canadian fleet of F-35s will be ready to replace the CF-18s in 2020 so that our air force will not be left without fighter jets.

One of the main criteria for a new fleet of aircraft was that the jet selected was to be operational in 2020, according to what was said. Since 2010, the government has maintained that a fleet of F-35 jets would be operational in 2020. However, there have been delays in the past two years and the government has not changed the delivery dates. On April 11, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence stated that a contract would not be signed before 2017-18.

It seems to me that the timeline for delivery of the aircraft will be a little tight if it is expected that the contract will only be signed in 2017-18 for 2020 delivery of a fleet of 65 jets that will be operational and tailored to the Canadian Forces. Furthermore, yesterday, in committee of the whole, my colleague asked if the government thought it would keep the CF-18 jets in service until 2025. The Associate Minister of National Defence responded as follows:

Madam Chair, again, contingency plans are being developed. We are in a position of having to make some of the decisions once other answers are forthcoming. There is work being done.

My first series of questions is as follows: When does the government plan to purchase these fighter jets? When will they receive them? When will our armed forces be able to pilot an operational fleet of new fighter jets? When will the CF-18s be retired?

Another question remains unanswered: how many F-35s will they buy and for how much? For months, the government has repeated that a $9 billion envelope will be allocated to the procurement of 65 F-35s. Now they have changed their tune a little. They are talking only about the $9 billion that has been frozen. We heard the government say that studies had established that our air force needed 65 planes.

Yesterday, however, when my colleague asked whether the government could confirm that it would be procuring 65 F-35s, the minister said that we clearly needed fighter jets.

The government is no longer giving us any figures. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said that 80 was probably a reasonable number of fighter jets.

I would like to know how many fighter jets the government wants to buy, how much it will cost, whether the $9 billion envelope remains unchanged, and how many planes we will be able to buy with that envelope. Could the government provide some clearer answers with regard to these figures?

The other thing we do not know is where this money is going. This program does not respect the traditional standard of equivalent economic domestic spinoffs. When we sign military contracts, we usually ask for that clause. This contract does not include this clause, which means that the guarantees are hypothetical. I would like to know what the government's plan is for that.

What is the government going to do to guarantee economic spinoffs for Canadian businesses and Canadian workers if they are not formally negotiated in the contract itself? I would also like to know if it has begun any negotiations with Lockheed Martin to demand industrial offsets.

What can Canadian workers expect?

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2012]

Mr. Chair, during the first wave of cuts in April, the Department of National Defence cut nearly 400 civilian jobs on the Quebec military bases. Quebec was the province most affected by the Department of National Defence cuts. Why?

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2012]

Mr. Chair, did the minister take language factors into account before making these cuts? Did he determine whether there would be specific impacts on the recruitment of francophones outside the region? Did he take care not to do away with any recruitment centres in regions where there are more francophones?

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2012]

Mr. Chair, were any studies carried out before the centres were closed? Were alternatives to closing the recruitment centres proposed, such as relocating recruitment centre activities to buildings occupied by reserve regiments instead of completely eliminating the service from certain regions?

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2012]

Mr. Chair, does the minister sincerely believe that the Internet is just as effective at persuading young people to join the Canadian Forces as talking face to face with an experienced soldier in uniform who can speak passionately about the job?

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2012]

Mr. Chair, with regard to Canadian Forces recruitment, I would like to know what impact these closures will have, especially the closure of sites in remote areas, and how this will affect other movements that use the services of these recruitment centres, such as officers serving with cadets. Is it possible that this will affect officer cadets who wish to serve, and that reserve regiments served by these recruitment centres will be affected?

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2012]

Mr. Chair, the minister has announced the closure of 10 recruitment centres across Canada. I would like to know if he has decided which centres will be closed and, if he has, can he give us the list of the centres and towns affected?

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2012]

Mr. Chair, I would like to go back to my previous question and have the minister provide clear and specific answers.

I would like to know when he plans to start construction of the base and whether, yes or no, it will be a fully-equipped deepwater port facility, as promised.

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2012]

Mr. Chair, I would also like to have some specifics about the Nanisivik base. Can the minister tell us when he expects to start construction of the facility and whether it will be a fully-equipped deepwater port, as the government had promised?