House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 57% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, as I said when I made a statement in the House, I provided the information based on my best knowledge at the time.
I would like to make another comment. I have a quote from a member that says:
I have been in places of Afghan detention myself and have seen the work that the International Committee of the Red Cross does, and I believe it is the best guarantee of their safety and freedom from abuse.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, I am still not clear but I will take a stab at it.
If there is information about detainees, this is operational information which the government does not release. If that is what the member is talking about, it is operational information about detainees. If it is something else, I would have to know.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, unfortunately, I do not know what the member is talking about. If he would identify what document he is talking about, I could answer the question.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, the member will get the numbers when the model is completed and it is announced by the government. He will then have a number.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, we will meet this commitment. The money is in the budget. As to the matter of timing, it is like everything else. As I said before, we are rebuilding the army, air force and navy at the same time. We have huge amounts of equipment to acquire. We have reorganizations to take place. We have new units to create. It is on the list and it will be done.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, we will meet that commitment. The money is in the budgets that I have today. This is a serious commitment. You remember in the last election when your party ran ads about soldiers in cities, well, you are going to get them.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, we will meet our commitment to Bagotville. The details of that option are being worked out at this moment.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, as I have said, we are rebuilding the recruiting system and rebuilding the training system. As time goes on we become more and more efficient and we can recruit at a higher rate.
We have had to deal with manpower deficits. We are overcoming that. As I said, last year we increased by 1,015.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, rebuilding the armed forces from a manpower point of view is a challenge because of the gutting of the military strength in the 1990s, when the forces lost many officers and NCOs.
We are rebuilding the training system and the recruiting system. We have added many efficiencies over the last year in the recruiting system. In the last year there have been more than 5,000 members lost through attrition because of age or other reasons, but beyond that, the regular force grew by approximately 1,015.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, that is a hypothetical question that is beyond my ability to answer at this moment.