House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2025, with 60% of the vote.
National Defence May 1st, 2017
Mr. Speaker, the defence minister knows that there are consequences for being dishonest and untrustworthy under the military's code of conduct and ethics, and the defence minister understands that as a veteran.
The minister's apology does not repair the damage he created. Canadians do not believe him. Our military does not trust him. How can the Prime Minister have any confidence in the minister?
Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law) April 13th, 2017
moved that Bill S-226, An Act to provide for the taking of restrictive measures in respect of foreign nationals responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights and to make related amendments to the Special Economic Measures Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, be read the first time.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to table my colleague Senator Raynell Andreychuk's bill, Bill S-226, the justice for victims of corrupt foreign officials act, the Sergei Magnitsky law, here in the House.
Sergei Magnitsky was a Moscow lawyer who had uncovered the largest tax fraud in Russian history. He was arrested, detained without trial, tortured, and murdered while he was in prison. He died on November 16, 2009. It is in his memory that this legislation is being brought forward.
In May 2016, I tabled my own piece of legislation, Bill C-267, which was drafted alongside Bill S-226. By working together, we have been able to expedite the legislative process.
I believe the Liberal government must do more than talk a game when it comes to human rights. It must take concrete action. Bill S-226 would make the amendments, as has been mentioned, by imposing more sanctions on foreign kleptocrats and on violators of human rights. As well, it would empower Parliament, in both the Senate and the House through their foreign affairs committees, by giving them the power to review and report on how the Special Economic Measures Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act are working, and review the list to make recommendations on who should be sanctioned.
Corrupt foreign officials who continually abuse human rights and disregard international law have been using Canada as a safe haven. This must stop. Already the United States, Estonia, the European Parliament, and the U.K. have adopted Magnitsky-style legislation on a global basis. We have to work in concert with our allies to ensure that there are mechanisms in place to sanction individuals who are responsible or complicit in gross violations of international human rights or abusing their positions of authority.
This legislation has already been studied in the Senate and by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, both of which recommend its implementation. The Liberals' policy of normalization and the appeasement of Russia, Iran, and others is not working and must stop. It is time for the government to do the right thing, support this legislation, and sanction corrupt foreign officials.
(Motion deemed adopted and bill read the first time)
National Defence April 13th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, that Liberal cover-up stinks, and I will tell you what else stinks: the Liberals' response since cutting the danger pay of Canadian troops fighting ISIS, and it has been embarrassing.
Conservatives forced the hands of the Liberals in fixing this outrageous decision, but today we learned the Liberals issued a ministerial order that is only returning some of the danger pay for some of our troops.
Military families who are no longer receiving this military danger pay are now turning to food banks to get by.
Why is the Minister of National Defence not standing up for our troops who are being treated so poorly by these Liberals?
Foreign Affairs April 12th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised to implement Magnitsky-style legislation so Canada could quickly sanction corrupt foreign officials, but he has done absolutely nothing.
Last week the Assad regime perpetrated another war crime. Both Russia and Iran support the Syrian regime. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister has spent his time in office normalizing relationships with Russia, dropping sanctions against Iran, and stopping bombing in Syria by our CF-18s.
Last night the Senate passed Bill S-226, the Sergei Magnitsky bill. Will the Prime Minister quit cosying up to dictators and despots and support this bill?
Public Services and Procurement April 11th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments from the parliamentary secretary, but, again, he is just going on with this fabricated capability. The Liberals have a credibility gap on this. Let us look at what people actually have said about the sole-sourcing of the F-18.
Alan Williams said it best. He is a former assistant deputy minister for materiel. He said, “You don’t tell a company you intend on buying their product and then try to negotiate a price...You lose any negotiating power you might have had.” Even the government is saying that it is going to cost $5 billion to $7 billion to buy 18 fighter jets. That is over $330 million apiece. That is ridiculous and a waste of taxpayer money.
George Petrolekas, a retired colonel, said, “an interim new aircraft purchase solves little, and if anything, constrains Canada’s future options.” We just cannot go ahead with this.
It comes down to this. We have a government that is led by the Prime Minister who has no interest in funding our Canadian Armed Forces properly. The government has cut now over $12 billion from future procurement, so I do not know how it will pay for this fighter jet. The government should move immediately to an open, fair, and transparent competition so we get the right plane today.
Public Services and Procurement April 11th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, I am coming back to a question I originally raised on December 5 with the Minister of National Defence on the procurement issue of sole-sourcing the Super Hornets. The minister started talking about a fabricated capability gap. This is a debate we have raised in the House on a number of occasions during question period as well as at committee.
We need to talk a little about the history of the so-called capability gap. We need to remember that first and foremost, the Royal Canadian Air Force has said numerous times, and this includes the commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, General Hood, when he was at committee, that there is no capability gap. The fighter jets the Royal Canadian Air Force employs today can easily meet all of the targets we have in having enough planes to serve our NORAD commitments, to protect Canadian sovereignty, to participate in NATO operations, as well as participate in other coalition activities, as we do from time to time.
When the Conservative Party was in government, we deployed our CF-18s to Kuwait as part of the air combat mission bombing ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. We also have to remember that the current fleet of CF-18s is being upgraded. The CF-18s are in the process of being upgraded to extend their life expectancy to 2025. We have a fleet of 77 CF-18s, the legacy Hornets, that are operational and can meet all the needs of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Just last week, I raised this question again during the adjournment proceedings, and was able to document to the government that not only are Conservatives saying this, but 13 retired commanders of the Royal Canadian Air Force have also told the government and have written directly to the Prime Minister saying that sole-sourcing the Super Hornet is a bad idea, that it will be more expensive and will reduce the defence posture of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
We also know that defence analysts, as well as Defence Research and Development Canada, which is a part of the Department of National Defence, also published a paper saying that our current CF-18s will fulfill all the requirements of the Royal Canadian Air Force until 2025.
Therefore, I again implore the government to quit fabricating this capability gap. Let us get down to having an open and transparent competition so that we can get the right jet at the right price that is in the best interests of the Royal Canadian Air Force, our troops, and Canadian taxpayers.
National Defence April 6th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence is willing to stifle, silence, and outright contradict government and military officials, all to save face for the Prime Minister. Despite what the defence minister says, official documents prove there is no capability gap in our fighter fleet, it was the Liberals who cut danger pay to our troops, and our allies were not happy with the decision of the Liberals to withdraw our CF18s from the fight against ISIS.
When will the Minister of National Defence admit he is misleading Canadians, and put an end to his dirty little habit?
Sergei Magnitsky Legislation April 6th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, during the last federal election, all parties, including the Liberal Party, promised to bring forward a bill in memory of Sergei Magnitsky that would increase sanctions on foreign officials who are involved in government corruption and human rights abuses.
Sergei Magnitsky was a Russian lawyer who uncovered the biggest tax fraud orchestrated by corrupt officials. The Russian government arrested Sergei. He was tortured, denied justice, and beaten to death in a Russian prison.
This morning, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development presented its unanimous report entitled “A Coherent and Effective Approach to Canada's Sanctions Regimes: Sergei Magnitsky and Beyond”. Magnitsky legislation has been adopted by the United States, the European Parliament, and Estonia, to impose stricter sanctions on all corrupt officials and violators of human rights.
Adopting Magnitsky legislation here would further enable the Government of Canada to quickly sanction corrupt foreign officials from all corners of the world. This is not a partisan issue, but the Liberal government has refused to take action. I encourage government members to support my bill, Bill C-267, the justice for victims of corrupt foreign officials act, also know as the Sergei Magnitsky law), as the bill their campaign promised.
National Defence April 5th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister continues to double down on the alternative facts. The defence minister said that there were no qualms about pulling our jets out of the fight against ISIS, yet emails from Global Affairs say there were. The minister said there is a capability gap, but the commander of the air force said there is not. The defence minister also claimed Conservatives sent our troops to fight ISIS without tax relief, yet a document with the defence minister's signature on it says the exact opposite.
Canadians need a strong, principled, and trustworthy leader, not another patsy to the Prime Minister. How can anyone trust the Prime Minister and the defence minister? Will they apologize?
National Defence April 5th, 2017
Mr. Speaker, that is what we would call all hat, no horse.
A government email confirms that the Iraqi government asked Canada to continue its bombing mission against ISIS on multiple occasions. Our Kurdish and Iraqi partners in the fight against ISIS describe our air strikes as effective and life-saving and as destroying the enemy.
Our allies repeatedly asked Canada to keep our CF-18s in the fight, but the minister ignored them and told Canadians that our partners and allies were okay with the Liberals' decision.
Canadians cannot trust the Minister of National Defence when he continues to mislead us. Will the Prime Minister make the Minister of National Defence apologize?