Keith Martin

[National Defence, February 25th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as we have said before in question period, we would bring to the House an agreement before that agreement was going to be signed. There was no agreement signed.

[National Defence, February 25th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we have been working with the Americans on continental defence for 30 years. We have been a part of Norad for 30 years. We will continue to be a part of Norad. Our government exercises sovereignty not to be a part of BMD. However, we have exercised our sovereignty with a $13 billion investment into defence for our border security, port security, and Arctic sovereignty.

We will continue to work with the Americans on issues such as terrorism in Afghanistan and other areas. We are continuing to work with the Americans on a number of issues that are important for both of us, and we will continue to do just that.

[National Defence, February 25th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister made it very clear that he would bring to this House an agreement before it was going to be signed onto. We do not have an agreement to sign onto. What we have done is exert our sovereignty. The PM made a decision yesterday.

We have put $13 billion into our defence forces to engage in a wide array of sovereignty issues, including the protection of our north, including making our borders safer, and including working with the Americans on an array of common security threats. I think that is a responsible decision and we are going to continue to work toward that goal for the benefit of Canadians.

[National Defence, February 25th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I thought that the Minister of National Defence made our position crystal clear yesterday. Yesterday, cabinet made a decision on BMD; second, the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that decision in the House; and finally, the Prime Minister announced that decision publicly. I hope that clarifies the whole chain of command on this for the member opposite.

[Veterans, February 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that of our CF members and their families, 20% of them live in private married quarters, or PMQs, and 80% of them live off base. Also, for those who live on base in the PMQs, $400 million has been put into those houses. Another $120 million will be put in over the next three years. Is that enough? That is the best we can do for now.

We recognize full well that there are problems in some of these homes. We are committed to working together to ensure that we improve the homes and the PMQs. However, we will look at this as part of a larger package, including the pay raises that are coming across very soon for all members, the tax-free exemption that they receive when they are working abroad in high-risk zones, and other benefits that we are working on, including the health care package, which will be very important, not only for the CF members but their families.

We will continue as a government to work hard to improve the standard of living for our CF members. We thank them for the hard work that they do for Canadians across our country.

[Veterans, February 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I hope I will have some good news for the member in the context of this speech which addresses a very important issue that she brings up. How do we ensure that our Canadian Forces men and women and their families have the best homes, the best accommodation, and the best living conditions that we can afford to give them? That is our objective.

The members that we are dealing with, whether they live in Canadian Forces housing or rent or own private homes in their communities, must be dealt with in the fairest fashion possible. That is why we have invested more than $400 million to repair, maintain and address health and safety issues for housing since 1998. For example, the Department of National Defence has replaced furnaces, re-insulated homes, improved drainage and sewer systems, and installed new doors, windows and roofs where required.

There is no question though that more has to be done and that is our objective. There is much more that we can do and are doing, which is quite exciting. We will invest an additional $120 million to renovate, improve and maintain military housing over the next three years. I think that is good news. All rental income is reinvested back into housing through the modernization program and upgrades.

However, we are looking at the housing issue as part of a much broader package. The member is right when she talks about others, such as the PLD and other benefits that CF members are receiving, including pay raises, which should happen very soon. Hopefully, they will be quite pleased with what is coming down the pipe.

In recent years, the government has also introduced tax exemptions for Canadian Forces members serving in high-risk operations, such as Afghanistan, and has introduced new operational allowances, such as the post-combat reintegration assistance program. The government continues to overhaul the system by which we remunerate CF members and their benefits. We will continue to do that for their benefit. We have also introduced five new operational trauma and stress support cases across Canada.

I want to also bring to the member's attention that we are working on ways to ensure that the CF members and their families will receive better health care. We are working on this right now with the minister and the department. That should be quite exciting. The government has also provided substantial pay increases, as we know. Our non-commissioned members alone have received a total pay increase of more than 35% since 1996.

The post living differential that the member referred to is something that we have been dealing with for a long time. It is essentially a cost of living allowance. It is a pool of funds that increases according to the increase in the cost of living for the general public. We hope to ensure that continues. We tried to use that in conjunction with a series of other opportunities and options to ensure that our CF members and their families receive the highest remuneration that is affordable to the taxpayer.

[National Defence, February 18th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows and the House knows, we are strong supporters of our air force and the men and women who work on our CF-18s.

I am very pleased to announce today that Boeing has been awarded a contract in Montreal for $117 million to engage in phase 2 of the modernization of our CF-18s. This is good news for Canadian industry, good news for jobs, good news for Montreal, and good news for the Canadian Forces.

[National Defence, February 18th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the member and he can take back to his constituents that no decision has been made at this point in time.

I also want to assure him, and this is important, that there will be no change in the numbers of planes, no change in the numbers of workers and no change in the effectiveness of the capabilities that are now there in Bagotville.

We support the air force and we will continue to do that, but no decision has been made on this particular issue at this point in time.

[Canadian Forces, February 18th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I thought the member heard what the Prime Minister has already said. We are making a strong commitment. For example, we have made $7 billion of financial commitments into critical areas, such as new search and rescue planes, new mobile gun systems and new helicopters.

Furthermore, as the member would appreciate, being a general himself, the Prime Minister made a commitment to add 5,000 new members to our regular forces, plus another 3,000 members to our reserves.

[Canadian Forces, February 18th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows very well, the Prime Minister, the Minister of National Defence and this government have a firm commitment to support all three elements of our Canadian Forces. I am sure the member will look very favourably next week when the budget comes out and we will have a new investment into our military to strengthen their capabilities, not only here at home but abroad.