John McCallum

[Terrorism, October 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, like other ministers I have received many briefings about terrorism and the likelihood of attacks. However, it is true that there is not one person on this whole planet who can give us a scientifically accurate probability that such a terrible thing may occur.

[National Defence, October 30th, 2002]

Opaque, obtuse, something on that order. My point is that whatever the bureaucrats may say or may have said or not said, I am the one who makes the decision, and I have not yet decided. It is very simple.

[National Defence, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the hon. member is a little bit opaque. The point is that I--

[National Defence, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, there was a consultation meeting today to which the hon. member was invited. In our system it is ministers who decide and officials who implement. If the officials have sent out information to the contrary, then a bit like Panasonic, I guess they are slightly ahead of their time.

[National Defence, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member said she would be embarrassed if she were me. Given her behaviour over pensions, I would be embarrassed if I were her.

[National Defence, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, this is a very important item which has a high priority. We will get the right helicopter as soon as possible.

I think the House would agree with me that today is a perfect day to have special praise for our naval forces in the Arabian gulf. As has been pointed out by the media and our American allies, our navy has fought above its weight with about 10% of the ships and half of the boardings and hailings. I would ask the whole House to join me in congratulating our navy.

[Privilege, October 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, under our parliamentary system, ministers decide and officials carry out those decisions. To the extent that officials produced a document indicating a decision had been made, I would say that in that particular case they were slightly ahead of their time because I have not made a decision yet.

[Privilege, October 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to make the following statement in response to the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke on a question of privilege that she raised yesterday in the House.

The hon. member raised a question of privilege in relation to a response provided by the parliamentary secretary for national defence on the future of the Emergency Preparedness College in Arnprior, Ontario.

This statement is intended to provide clarification on this issue.

The hon. member stated yesterday:

--either the department offered false information to the parliamentary secretary, who inadvertently offered false information to the House, or the department advised the parliamentary secretary of the decision, in which case the charge of contempt should be laid against the member.

The parliamentary secretary for national defence provided an accurate response to the hon. member on Friday, October 25 based on advice provided to him by the Department of National Defence. In his response the parliamentary secretary for national defence stated the following:

--the Canadian Emergency Preparedness College is expanding its training program. The December budget allocated significant funds for this purpose. Much work has been done, but no final decision has yet been made. We are considering all possible options.

Let me clear, Mr. Speaker. The decision on the future of Emergency Preparedness College has yet to be made. I ultimately must direct the Department of National Defence, through the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness, to choose the location to permit the expansion of the college.

I recognize that departmental officials are presently recommending to my office and officials of the department of public works that the college be relocated based on an options analysis and business case that has been completed.

I had an opportunity to discuss this issue with my associate deputy minister responsible for advising me on this issue yesterday. I have directed my officials to contact and meet with local representatives in the Arnprior area as soon as possible to discuss the department's recommendations for the college. My understanding is that this meeting will take place on Wednesday, October 30.

After being informed of the department's recommendations, I intend to wait for this meeting to be held with local representatives before making a final decision on the future of the college. It is however my intention to make a decision shortly.

In summary, the parliamentary secretary for national defence responded accurately and appropriately to the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke on Friday, October 25.

[National Defence, October 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I already answered this question. Perhaps I will simply say that this is a good time to be the Minister of National Defence. Before, we only had retired generals to support us. Now, we have good Liberals like Tom Axworthy, Lloyd Axworthy, and a good Liberal paper like the Toronto Star .

It is a great time to be Minister of Defence, Mr. Speaker.

[National Defence, October 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, there have been a number of reports from the Senate, from the House, reports written by experts, and others. We know quite well that the Canadian Forces are under tremendous pressure. We know what to do. We do not have all of the details right now, but we have a very good idea of the direction.