Harjit S. Sajjan

[National Defence, March 6th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces take the security of sensitive information extremely seriously. We are constantly working to balance the requirement for openness and transparency while safeguarding information related to the security and defence of Canada.

In the last fiscal year, the department received over 2,000 access to information requests and released over 200,000 pages of documents to the public.

The classified documents were inadvertently released as a result of a human error. To avoid this in the future, we are reviewing this process to ensure that such a situation does not reoccur, and we continue to meet our legal obligations.

[National Defence, February 23rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for raising this concern with me. I will take a look at it and get back to him. However, as both my critics know, my office and I are always open to any questions. I will look into this and get back to the member.

[National Defence, February 23rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank those former generals for their service. The chief of the defence staff, General Vance, has exceptional experience and I have an air force commander with exceptional experience as well. I read that letter. No, we will not be buying used aircraft for our air force. We will be buying new equipment for our air force, making sure that we replace all the fighters, and making sure that we actually fill the interim capability gap and invest in the legacy fleet. We will be investing in defence. That is what our government committed to do.

[National Defence, February 23rd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to making sure that our men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces, especially our air force, have the right aircraft. We as a government have committed to replacing the fighters, hence the reason we are actually committed to an open competition to replace the entire fleet. We are investing into the legacy fleet as well. Plus, we are buying new Super Hornets. The discussions are ongoing on that to make sure that we can fill this capability gap. I do not know why the member opposite has a concern with investing in defence.

[National Defence, February 9th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, we are working through the rules that were put in place by the previous government in 2014. I have asked the chief of the defence staff to work with the relevant agencies to look at the various processes they have to go through, making sure that we have equitable compensation for our troops.

[National Defence, February 9th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, what was despicable was actually sending our troops in the first place without all these compensations. When I first visited our troops, I discovered this. I have had conversations with members opposite on this. It is the reason why it was brought to my attention. We have to work through a process to be able to resolve some of these issues. Many different departments are involved, and we are working through it, and we will get through this.

[National Defence, February 9th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, we will always be looking after our troops. It was during my first visit into Kuwait when I was appointed defence minister where I realized some of these inequities. That is why I have asked the chief of the defence staff to look at these things. It is the interdepartmental team that does it. Some rules were actually put into place in 2014, so these things do take time, but we will be working through it and making sure we work with the relevant agencies and all the recommendations we made so that we can move forward on this.

[National Defence, February 9th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, as I stated to the member opposite during committee, we are committed to looking after our men and women, including their compensation. Our government had concerns regarding the current situation that was not fully fair and equitable. That is why I have asked the chief of the defence staff to work with the relevant agencies to review the compensation rules and propose changes, including finding ways to prevent the negative impacts on our deployed personnel.

[Foreign Affairs, February 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, many times I have stated that Canada has a responsible place in the world. As we look at the various threats that we need to deal with, we need to reduce conflict as well. We need to reduce the recruitment into the violent extremist organizations so that we can prevent situations like child soldiers.

We have an extremely competent Canadian Armed Forces. Our chief of the defence staff is looking at these issues. With any mission that we send our troops on, we are making sure we are going to have the right impact on the ground. That is why we are taking the time to make this very important decision.

[Foreign Affairs, February 7th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I have said right from the beginning that when it comes to conflict, we need to understand the situation on the ground. That is why we are taking the time to look at all the various factors. We are talking to experts, including former General Roméo Dallaire.

When it comes to the issue of child soldiers, my chief of the defence staff has done considerable work on this. Any decision that we make we'll be making sure our troops have the right equipment and the right rules of engagement to make sure they have the right impact on the ground.