Jack Harris

[National Defence, May 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Psychiatric Association president, Dr. Fiona McGregor, said that no officials in the Department of Defence have contacted the organization regarding mental health worker recruitment. Dr. McGregor said that recruiting by press conference is an ineffective way to encourage psychiatrists and psychologists to come to work for the military. She says that a more comprehensive approach to the problem is needed.

Can the minister tell the House what his government is actually doing to recruit mental health workers?

[National Defence, May 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, not only did the Department of National Defence use this 160-word letter to justify one of the largest military procurements in our country's history, it engaged Public Works far too late in the game and provided no supporting documents explaining why the F-35 was the only aircraft.

Will the Minister of National Defence finally take responsibility for failing to follow the rules and commit now to an open and fair competition, as he did in the House in May of 2010, six weeks before the F-35 decision was announced by his government?

[National Defence, May 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is astonishing that the Department of National Defence justified its decision for the F-35 based on this 160-word letter. The letter was produced as justification on the day that it was requested. It mentions the term “fifth generation fighter” four times in one paragraph to try to convince Public Works that the F-35 is the only plane for Canada. However, the Auditor General notes that the term “fifth generation” is not even a description of operational requirements. We know it is really just a marketing term.

Why did the Department of National Defence do a sales pitch to Public Works instead of providing a complete and documented justification for its decision?

[National Defence, May 3rd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the report states that the Petawawa mental health system is broken, struggling to provide even basic care, with people waiting four months just to see a medical professional. It reads:

Our soldiers who fought for the freedom of children, mothers, fathers, grandchildren and all others in far away countries...are worthy of quality mental health services.

However, the situation is not unique to Petawawa. After a year in which suicides of Canadian Forces members nearly doubled from the previous year, and with so many suffering from PTSD, how can the government cut Canadian Forces mental health services with so many men and women requiring this assistance?

[National Defence, May 3rd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I wish the Conservatives cared more about the mental health of the Canadian Forces than about covering their tracks on the F-35s.

A report on mental health services at the base in Petawawa described the situation as a crisis. It says, “They should not have to fight for services, or wait in the desert of their minds hoping help will come soon”. The situation will only get worse when the government closes a mental health facility on July 1 and cuts other front line mental health workers.

Will the government reverse this plan and give the members of our Canadian Forces the help they need and deserve?

[National Defence, May 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we do not know how many books there were, but we know there were at least two columns, one for internal use and one for public consumption.

According to Deputy Minister Fonberg, the left-hand column was for decision-making, and the right-hand column was reported to the public.

Conservatives knew long before the last election what the real figures were, but they decided to keep them hidden from Canadians. When will this minister finally accept the entire report of the Auditor General on the F-35s and admit that they misled both Parliament and the public?

[National Defence, May 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Deputy Minister of National Defence told the public accounts committee that the cabinet was provided with the full $25 billion projected cost of the F-35 jets.

Will the minister now confirm that it was the cabinet that indeed had both figures, the full $25 billion figure and the $14.7 billion figure, and that it decided to use the smaller figure for public consumption, hiding $10 billion from Canadians? Are these the two sets of books that the Parliamentary Budget Officer was talking about?

[National Defence, May 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has a poor track record when it comes to giving clear answers.

He told the House that no money was spent on the F-35, yet $335 million has been spent. Somehow or other, there is a freeze on this non-existent spending.

He told Parliament the F-35s would cost $75 million per plane. His own officials testified at committee today that these planes will actually cost a lot more.

DND says they are full speed ahead on F-35 procurement, but Public Works is renaming the secretariat. What is really going on here?

[National Defence, May 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, of course, the Auditor General also said that they made a decision in 2008 on the F-35 without any supporting documentation.

Having one set of books for internal use and another for Parliament is simply not acceptable. I know the Minister of National Defence is having a tough time under fire for his role in the F-35 fiasco. He testified yesterday it was cabinet that approved the misleading cost estimates.

My question for the Minister of National Defence is as follows. Does he stand by his comments that all of his cabinet colleagues were aware of the misleading statements about the costs of the F-35?

[Search and Rescue, April 30th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor who has shown great interest in this issue over the years he has been here and, of course, Gander is the centre where the 103 Squadron Cormorants are stationed.

Ground search and rescue is part of the overall system. The Department of National Defence is the lead ministry and its minister is the lead minister for the whole system of search and rescue in Canada. Yes, I believe there ought to be a more coordinated effort. We saw the recent tragic loss of Burton Winters in Makkovik, Labrador, where there seemed to have been some elements of misunderstanding about what the roles of various parties were, as well as communication difficulties and very serious bureaucratic hurdles in the way of Burton Winters being rescued more quickly.

Yes, there needs to be more effort and integrating some of these services in a better way should also be a priority. However, we need to start by getting a helicopter or a Hercules in the air within 30 minutes to get to the place where the help is needed.