Jack Harris

[National Defence, May 5th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, reviewing them? The Conservatives should be following them.

While on tour in Iraq and Kuwait, Canadian media signed and respected the directive from DND not to publish images of special forces soldiers for security reasons, but the Prime Minister's Office did not, and posted a series of videos showing the faces of Canadian soldiers.

We gather that these videos have been pulled down for now, but there remains a simple question. Why is the Prime Minister's Office breaking rules intended to protect the safety of our forces just to make promotional videos for the Prime Minister, and who over there will take responsibility for this fiasco?

[National Defence, May 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, we understand the Military Police Complaints Commission is looking into this matter, the same commission that the Conservatives stonewalled in the past incidents involving Afghan detainees.

Was the then minister of national defence made aware at the time of these instances and the investigation that took place in 2011, and what was done about it?

[National Defence, May 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, there are also new and troubling allegations published today in La Presse concerning Canadian military police treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan.

We understand—

[National Defence, May 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, this weekend in Kuwait, the Prime Minister made a very troubling comment. He said that we cannot know whether or not the military bombing mission in Iraq is effective, yet he has ordered Canadian Forces to bomb in both Iraq and Syria while we raise this very question in debate in this House.

Why is the Prime Minister focused more on campaign-style photo ops than on answering to Canadians about the war in Iraq and Syria?

[National Defence, April 30th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, today's report shows a shocking level of sexual misconduct, harassment and assault in the Canadian Armed Forces. Military leadership turned a blind eye to an environment that was rampant with inappropriate and criminal behaviour and failed to support victims when they came forward. This is a matter of fundamental justice for women in our society, a flagrant disregard for women's rights and repeated denial of a systemic problem in the military.

Why is the government not recognizing that profound changes are required and that the military is not capable and has not shown itself to be capable of dealing with sexual assault in its midst?

[Ongoing Situation in Ukraine, April 29th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, listening to the minister speak is a good example of what my colleague from Westmount—Ville-Marie was saying about the government's black and white attitude, its failure to understand what is going on. In fact, I think that, as a colleague of mine used to say, instead of the minister being on receive, he is on transmit. He did not listen to what was said on this side of the House and he persists in saying that the NDP does not support the military activities in Ukraine by the government or the Operation Reassurance mission. He clearly does not listen.

To characterize some of the things that he has as an attack on our sovereignty in the Arctic by the Russians really seeks to inflame something that is non-existent. People constantly go before the defence committee saying quite clearly that there are no military threats to Canada in the Arctic and yet he persists in talking as if there were.

I would ask the minister if he would be a little more nuanced in his comments. We obviously stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and support the efforts being made there. That is not in question and I do not know why the minister wants to persist in suggesting that it is.

[Ongoing Situation in Ukraine, April 29th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the Minister of National Defence for his comments and take this opportunity, since we are focused on the military aspects of Canadian support, to assure those following this discussion and debate that we in this House, and the NDP, stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and fully support the efforts of the NATO assurance package in which Canada participated in a large way.

We acknowledge the positive support of Canada to the three centres of excellence NATO has in the Balkans, as well as our contribution to Baltic air policing and the provision of non-lethal equipment and support to the Ukrainian military. I am glad to hear from the minister that it was much appreciated and recognized as a Canadian contribution by those who received it.

I am reliably informed that to ensure that the equipment we are talking about actually got to the place it needed to go, Canada had to set up its own supply chain to make sure that happened, partly because of difficulties at the senior level of the Ukrainian military. This has been not my criticism but a criticism of the international crisis group and others. Some aid coming from the U.S., for example, ended up on the black market very quickly.

That indicates some serious problems within the military. Is there something Canada is doing and can do to assist at that level in improving the professionalisation of the Ukrainian military?

[Ongoing Situation in Ukraine, April 29th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, I would like to ask the member for Westmount—Ville-Marie a question concerning the role of sanctions.

I know he mentioned the diplomatic efforts of François Hollande and Angela Merkel, and the lengthy and ongoing, 18 hours I think, negotiations to get the Minsk agreement, which was denounced by the Conservative government. It at least provided a framework where the tone was turned down a little, with the question of the sanctions for the ceasefire holding perfectly still at large.

On the point of sanctions, have there been enough sanctions and have they been specific enough on whether they are conditional? Will these sanctions be there forever, as long as Crimea is in the hands of Russia, or are they sanctions such that some are there forever until that happens and others may be conditional upon the behaviour of the Russian federation in what it does in eastern Ukraine? Would the member care to comment on the value of sanctions and what they actually are for?

[Ongoing Situation in Ukraine, April 29th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for his question, although it is a question that he has not answered, nor has his government, in terms of the best way for Ukrainians to be helped. It is a matter of great debate in Europe as to what the next steps might be. What we are doing now in terms of assisting the Ukrainian people to have a more effective and professional military is the first step, an important step, and the kind of training that we are providing will help to do that.

Anything beyond that is a very difficult question. Where does it go from there and what does it lead to? I do not think we are ready to answer that question. Talk is cheap and tough talk is easy to say, but when we look at the situation we are dealing with, and the Europeans are very conscious of this because of their history, we have to avoid a situation which goes further than we see the full consequences.

We do not want to start a new cold war and we do not want to start a hot war. We want to manage the situation in such a way that Mr. Putin and the Russians are well aware of the consequences of what might happen and that we are able to manage the situation without leading to a hot war.

[Ongoing Situation in Ukraine, April 29th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for her comments and recognition of the importance of the Ukrainian population in Canada.

I went to law school in Edmonton and I know that a lot of fellow students were Ukrainian. One of my former colleagues in the House of Commons in 1987-88, the hon. Ray Hnatyshyn, became the Governor General of Canada, the first Governor General of Ukrainian descent. Everybody in the Ukrainian community was very proud of that, and rightly so. Ukrainians play an important role.

Canada also has an important role and a potentially significant role to play on the governance side. We are a federation and have an understanding of how federations work. There has been a suggestion that one of the solutions within Ukraine to keep the country unified is to develop some sort of regional participation in governance to help bridge some of the differences and problems.

That is where Canada can help. Where is that in this equation? I would like to hear something from the government about that and what plans it might have to help in that way.