House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 49% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Mr. Chair, we are not at that stage of discussions. Right now, I think the Chinook helicopter might still be there, so we have not come to that stage. I want to make sure that we have enough resources for Fort McMurray. If there is any potential follow-up resources that are required, when we get to that stage, we will look at the costing of it and have a discussion on that.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Mr. Chair, when it comes to disasters like this, our first responsibility is to always make sure that we respond. We have done that. We are not at the stage of talking about how much money it will cost. At that time, my deputy minister will take a look at where it needs to come from. If we need to do cost capturing, we can take a look at that. However, having said this, our first responsibility will always be to respond. The Canadian Armed Forces is well suited for it. If we need additional funds, we will request it.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
One of the challenges, Mr. Chair, for the transition—and this is a very lengthy topic to discuss—is when someone has been injured in the military, that person becomes a veteran. The person then has to talk to another doctor in Veterans Affairs. We are looking for a manner in which we can make this transition seamless, where if someone has seen a military doctor, that person should not have to convince another doctor after the fact.
We are working on this mechanism to make it smoother, but the transition is much more wider than just looking at the injury. We want to make sure members have the right training, the right education opportunities, and preferred job placement into the public service. We want to make every aspect of the resources available to members as they transition.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Mr. Chair, I have travelled to many of the bases and the welfare of our soldiers is the question that I raise directly. These concerns have not been raised to me. I am happy to look into these concerns.
We have a good system. The men and women, especially the chain of command, who serve alongside the people who care for our men and women take this extremely seriously. If any issues come up, they will come through the chain of command, and we will address them very quickly.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Mr. Chair, I cannot stress enough how seriously we take this issue. In terms of the actual point that the member raised, I am happy to look at it, but I am not aware of those numbers.
Currently, we have 400 full-time mental health workers and we are hiring more. We want to make sure that all of the bases and areas where our soldiers are located are staffed appropriately to provide the services they need.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Mr. Chair, we are, in fact, actually trying to hire more mental health workers. We want to make sure we have enough mental health workers in the critical areas, and we will diligently work toward that.
When it comes to universality of service, we also want to make sure that as members transition, they have all the necessary support mechanisms so they can transition into civilian life with the right type of training and support.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Mr. Chair, in fact, we are actually trying to modernize the JPSU to make it far more responsive, looking at a stand-alone unit to support our members but also within the chain of command, because the chain of command knows the members best. It allows us to prevent some of the issues that arise, but we are making sure that the JPSU has the right resources to provide the right support for our members.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Mr. Chair, as you know, this is one capability that we have received in the navy. As the joint supply ships go online to be built, we are right now working with an interim measure of what we call smart scheduling utilizing interim ships from different nations. We have also invested in building our own interim capabilities with Davie shipyards, which will help fill some of that gap until the joint supply ships are completed.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Mr. Chair, as I stated, the Halifax frigates are being modernized. There is one that is remaining. This is also actually a really good news story that the program did extremely well, that now the New Zealand navy has looked to us, where we will be modernizing, I believe, two frigates which will be starting hopefully within this year.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Mr. Chair, 14 of the original 18 Auroras are being modernized and life extended until a new fleet is procured in the 2030 time frame. To date, we have modernized 10 of the aircraft, seven of which have been life extended.