House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 57% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, as I have said, I have not been made aware from the department of any abuse or any torture of any detainee. I have never been informed of a case, period.
Our Canadian Forces operate to the highest standards. As I have said, they operate to the standards of all the international laws governing war, including the Geneva convention, and there is no basis for thinking that the Canadian Forces are doing anything improper.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, I must clarify again, as I did earlier, the responsibility of the defence department. Beyond operations and assisting in the development of Afghanistan, when it comes to detainees, the responsibility of the defence department, should it have detainees, is to treat them properly, in accordance with all military laws.
When they are processed, recorded et cetera, they are handed over to the Afghan authorities, and the International Red Cross and the human rights commission are informed of the transfer. That is the responsibility of the defence department. It has no responsibility beyond that point.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, the department is not considering, in fact it is not even in its mandate to consider, detention centres in Afghanistan.
I am not aware of any consideration, but if there were any consideration, the member would have to check with the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, I do not know if the member is asking for the number of detention centres in Afghanistan or the number of detention centres that the Afghanistan government eventually wants to concentrate any detainees that we may have handled.
However, if the member wants those answers, he will have to talk to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, as I have said on a number of occasions, details concerning prisoners are operational and I will not discuss operational matters.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, I do not quite get the tenor of that question. Twenty-eight per cent of all general officers are francophone and 24% of the officer corps is francophone. The francophones for many decades have enjoyed a full career in the armed forces. Many of the recent chiefs of the defence staff were francophones.
Therefore, I do not understand the tenor of the member's question. Francophones have the full ability to enjoy the benefits of the Canadian Forces.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, on the matter of the range, I understand the air force is studying it or has been studying it. I have received no information from it on such a topic. When I get a conclusion, if it is not classified, I will inform the member of the result.
However, to date I have had no indication from the air force that it has a requirement for the range.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, as I have said on a number of occasions tonight, we intend to meet all our commitments to the Arctic. When each of these commitments is processed properly through the government, announcements will be made.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, the Canadian Forces have operated for decades with French language units and English language units. As a former military person, I lived in that regime and it works. We can have units operating in French and units operating in English. They are combined at a headquarters level, which is bilingual, and it works.
Business of Supply May 17th, 2007
Mr. Chair, there are three kinds of units in the Canadian Forces: French language, English language and bilingual units. Each of the services operate slightly different as well.
With respect to the senior members of the English language units and the French language units, headquarters would ensure that they have enough bilingual people to guarantee that orders are passed back and forth.
However, by having French language units and English language units it means that those people who are unilingual have a full chance at a career in the armed forces. That is true of the Vingt-deux. The three battalions of Vingt-deux are French language units and the three battalions of the RCR are English language units. They are all outstanding infantry and they do their jobs in their own language.