Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today to the motion sponsored by the hon. member for Saint John and to thank my colleague for Lakeland for sharing his time with me.
Through the motion the member for Saint John wishes that the House to call upon the government to act to ensure that maritime procurement be conducted on the basis of best value to Canadian taxpayers. The hon. member is particularly concerned with procurement policies affecting the acquisition of maritime helicopters, but I am sure many in the House would agree that there are procurement problems throughout the military. I will expand the debate a little to talk about other procurement difficulties that the government is having.
As an ex-member of the Royal Canadian Air Force of the sixties, I can make some comparisons today when I look at the equipment in the military and the numbers of members of the military. I reflect back to that period of time and the pride that we had in the equipment of the day. Even though through the years it was modernized somewhat, there was an inherent pride which seems to be missing through many parts of the military today because of procurement problems and being delayed for so long on necessary equipment purchases.
An example is one of the recent cutbacks which needs to be questioned, the cutback of the patrol times of the Aurora aircraft. Patrol times have been cut down from 19,200 hours in 1993 when the Liberals came into office to 11,500 hours today. Their wish is to cut those times further to an unacceptable 8,000 hours per year, despite a written recommendation by the chief of the air force who stated emphatically that less than 11,500 hours would result in an unacceptable impact.
With the increasing use of the northwest passage, coupled with increasing numbers of polar overflights, one might argue for more patrol hours rather than less in order to assert our presence and our sovereignty in the far north. We must remember the circumstances of the United States ship, the Manhattan , and how its presence challenged our Arctic sovereignty not too many years ago.
We have generals who describe our current military by using such words as irrelevant. That is shameful. Two million Canadians served in Canada's military in the last century and did so with great pride. Successive governments have decimated our military readiness in many areas, including Arctic patrols and equipment maintenance.
Recently military trucks were not available to tow the cannons to Parliament Hill for ceremonies. They had to be towed here by motor league tow trucks. It is just one example of how we are treating their maintenance. I would say that is a foreseeable maintenance issue that should be projected. What hope do we have if we need these services overseas? Is there a local chapter in Bosnia of the motor league?
It was detected recently that our CF-18s have moisture problems in the honeycombing of the wings, another procurement problem. Are we projecting ahead? What are we doing on procurement of necessary planes to replace the CF-18? What are we doing today and when is the projection? Will we be sitting here and talking about that 30 years from now? The CF-18s are from the 1970s.
There was also a recent situation with the Leopard tanks where it was reported that over the years the bottoms of the tanks had worn so thin that a screwdriver could be pushed through them. The solution was to weld plates over the bottom of the tanks rather than look at a replacement for a hull that is over 30 years old.
Even more recently there was another procurement strategy where questions arose. It was reported that military barracks in Alberta were being abandoned barely four years after they were constructed. The reason was that hundreds of cracks appeared in the foundation, another procurement difficulty.
Nothing spoke louder of Canada's lack of mobilization capability than the recent incidents on the high seas when 10% of our military equipment was held hostage until we had to forcibly board and take it back. Should we consider procurement capabilities and heavy lift capabilities for the armed forces? I think so. Our lack of heavy lift capability let a private shipping company seriously embarrass us in the eyes of the world.
The compounding of this disgrace was illustrated when only one of the two helicopters that set out to intercept the ship made it to the ship. The second one had to turn back because of mechanical failures.
The military has not seriously listened to the concerns of current and former armed forces personnel about its physical welfare. Current and former armed forces personnel were recently told that their complaints about mysterious physical ailments were likely their own fault, apparently because they are overstressed with worry. In short, they are sick with worrying about their health.
Curiously senior military personnel in European countries and NATO have not adopted the shortsightedness of their Canadian counterparts. Among non-Canadian military personnel depleted uranium with increasing frequency is being singled out as a potential contaminant of the greatest concern.
Yesterday we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the end of the gulf war, but on a rather sour note because we still will not acknowledge the soldiers who served in that war as being war veterans.
We must as a nation demonstrate a renewed commitment to the future well-being of our armed forces. I have seen time and again that whenever Canadians are reminded of how today's freedoms are due to the current and past sacrifices of many in our military they respond generously and with gratitude. Concerns for the well-being of our military personnel should be shared by all and entrenched in military operations manuals and directives. It is those in our military who are entrusted to carry the torch in the name of our war dead to protect the peace and freedoms that we as Canadians enjoy today.
In closing, I commend the member for Saint John for her initiative and support her motion wholeheartedly.
