House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 49% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Madam Chair, there are a number of projects, and the schedule for the procurement is based on the ones that were there when I became Minister of National Defence.
In terms of the question regarding re-profiling, I just want to remind the member that the former government—
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Madam Chair, I want to be very clear that we are making no cuts. In fact, we are committed to the national shipbuilding strategy that was developed early on by the previous government. We are working diligently to make sure we have the right ships, and that we have the ships for the Arctic. In addition, the Coast Guard is having its ships built as well. We are fully committed to the national shipbuilding strategy. I cannot say it any clearer than that.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Madam Chair, the plan is to purchase 28 Cyclone helicopters. Some have already been delivered. They are going through their tests right now, as more come on line. There are no cuts that have been made to the actual program. The plan is to make sure that we have the right number of Cyclone helicopters, and we are working diligently toward that.
I am happy to say that I got to fly one of those simulators, and I was able to land one of the Cyclones, on a simulator, on the ship as well.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Madam Chair, it is 2018, so it will be soon.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Madam Chair, I think we can both agree on the importance of this program. In fact, there is only one ship that is left to be modernized, and it is being worked on now. This program is actually on track and working well. It should be delivered quickly.
I got to visit one of the ships in operation. I visited one in Esquimalt. I am happy to say now that there is one left. It is being worked on and will be delivered shortly.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Madam Chair, the budget for the overall program is $3.5 billion, and the budget is $424 million for this year.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Madam Chair, the first ship is expected for 2018. I do not have the exact date when they will be considered fully capable. There is a lot of training that is going to be done. However, the first ship is expected in 2018.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Madam Chair, I would like to report to the hon. member that those ships are currently being built. We are on track for building those five ships and potentially having a sixth one as well. It is budgeted for $3.5 billion, which also includes infrastructure of the northern port, the dock repairs, and jetty replacement. However, I can assure the member that our government is fully committed to making sure those ships get built.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Madam Chair, the threats to our members and our bases are constantly assessed. The Chief of the Defence Staff and I have had discussions on this. If something does change, he notifies me. However, I can assure all committee members here that we take this extremely seriously. However, the actual measures always remain confidential for obvious reasons.
Business of Supply May 16th, 2016
Madam Chair, currently there are over 400 full-time mental health workers available to Canadian Armed Forces members and more are being hired.
In addition, we are making sure that as members go on operations, they come back and get post-deployment mental health training, which is called decompression. Many aspects need to be done. We also need to understand there is a uniqueness to each one. We are working very hard to address this issue.