Matthew Kellway

[National Defence, January 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the report the minister refers to actually showed overall costs three times higher and sustainment costs six times higher than anything the Conservative government had admitted to before. But somehow this is a validation of Conservative numbers, and somehow the member for Cambridge thinks that means the Conservatives had it “dead right”.

The Conservatives said they would hit the reset button, but the truth is they hit repeat. This is a repeat of the gross mismanagement and absurd math that has been the hallmark of this procurement all along. When will it end? When will the government put this contract out for open and transparent tender?

[National Defence, December 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, let us see again if the Conservatives know where they are going with this.

How about the Boeing Super Hornet? It has a maximum speed Mach 1.8, a combat radius of 722 kilometres and a thrust-to-weight ratio of 0.93. Is that being considered by the Conservatives?

[National Defence, December 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, since they have set aside the statement of requirements, and they are going out visiting some showrooms, will they consider the Saab Gripen? It has a maximum speed of Mach 2, a combat radius of 800 kilometres, and a thrust-to-weight ratio of 0.97. Is that being considered by the Conservatives?

[National Defence, December 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Works, with the F-35 has now “lost that loving feeling”, while the Minister of National Defence has “been through the desert on a horse with no [plane]”.

The Prime Minister and his merry band of travellers have been misleading Canadians for years on rising costs, on the lack of industrial benefits and on the engineering flaws. If they are serious about looking at other options, will they stand up now and tell us which other planes they are looking at to replace our CF-18s?

[National Defence, December 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker,

You can dance, you can sing

Like a puppet on a string

But you ain't in control of a single thing

It is “Crazy Talk”, Mr. Speaker. Chilliwack could have been singing about a whole bunch of them over there, but most notably, of late, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence. He has been doing his duty, repeating the PMO talking lines, revising history, championing secrecy, and generally misleading Canadians.

When will the Conservatives embrace accountability and hold an open competition?

[National Defence, December 11th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have forgotten what this is actually about. It is about getting the right aircraft at the right price with the best industrial benefits.

The Prime Minister reverts too easily to old habits, such as sole source deals behind closed doors. Backroom deals and public misrepresentation seem to be the instincts of the government.

The democratic instinct would be openness, transparency and a real competition to replace the CF-18s. Why not that?

[National Defence, December 11th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, FIPA is not the only agreement the Conservatives do not seem to understand. Yesterday, the Prime Minister fear-mongered about F-35 related contracts being ripped up. To paraphrase a prominent columnist, this is either culpable incompetence or deliberate misrepresentation.

Denmark, a tier 3 partner just like us, is using an open competition to replace their F-16s. The Dutch, also a JSF partner, are also going through a competitive process in response to their AG's report.

Why are the Conservatives still fear-mongering and misleading Canadians?

[Petitions, December 11th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is with respect to a national public transit strategy.

The signatories to this petition call upon the Government of Canada to provide a permanent investment plan to support public transit, to establish federal funding mechanisms for public transit and work with all levels of government to provide sustainable, predictable, long-term and adequate funding.

[Petitions, December 11th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first is with respect to side guards on large trucks.

The signatories to this petition call upon the Government of Canada to introduce a regulation under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act requiring side underrun guards for large trucks and trailers to prevent cyclists and pedestrians from being pulled under the wheels of these vehicles.

[National Defence, December 10th, 2012]

Not just yet, I take it, Mr. Speaker. However only two years ago when faced with questions from the NDP on the skyrocketing cost, the defence minister puffed out his chest, dismissed the concerns and said, “If we don’t make this purchase there is a real danger we'll be unable to defend our airspace...exercise our sovereignty or...share our responsibility to both NORAD and NATO”. Coming from the Minister of National Defence, that is some serious stuff.

If he still believes what he said, will he now defend himself against his own party?