Peter MacKay

[National Defence, June 7th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we do. In fact, this government, I am very proud to say, has made unprecedented investments in the Canadian Forces. I am proud to see many of them here in the House today.

What I do know is that member and members of his party are very good at fake outrage. What they are also very good at is voting against every investment that we have made in the Canadian Forces in the last four years.

Yes, we will refurbish the next generation of fighters, as we have for our navy, army and air force. We are making the necessary investment to support the men and women in uniform.

[National Defence, June 7th, 2010]

Once again, Mr. Speaker, coming from the NDP that is rich. There are so many inaccuracies in there that I do not even know where to begin.

We do in fact have capabilities with the current fleet of CF18s. In fact, this government has just refurbished that fleet and they will have use well into the 2020 period.

We, of course, will invest in the next generation of fighters. This is something that we are part of with our allies. It will see massive benefits for Canadian aerospace industry over time. Stay tuned.

[Official Languages, June 3rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, that is not the case. In 2006, the Minister of National Defence began changing his approach towards official languages, and tremendous progress has been made since that time. The Commissioner of Official Languages, Graham Fraser, said that the Canadian Forces were extremely co-operative throughout the audit and had expressed a sincere desire to find long-term solutions.

[Sydney Harbour, May 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hon. member's canned rage, but he has been missing in action. When he was a member of the government for 13 years, we heard nothing but stunning silence from this member on the Sydney dredge. It was like crickets when it came to the member raising this issue around the Sydney dredge.

In the meantime, we as a government on the Conservative side have invested millions and millions of dollars.

I get to Cape Breton regularly. I love Cape Breton. I even love Rita's Tea Room.

[Sydney Harbour, May 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, what is not missing are millions of dollars that have been committed to Cape Breton by the government over the last four years, most of which the member voted against; for example, the infrastructure stimulus fund, $175 million to support marine Atlantic revitalization; money through the gas tax; and projects through CAF and RInC.

These are incredible projects for Cape Breton, all of which the member voted against. He is shaking his head. I can hear it rattling from here, but it is a fact.

[Business of Supply, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Chair, again let me just clarify. There is a hangar, Hangar 2 which he refers to, which is currently housing some of the transport and vehicle maintenance capabilities.

We spoke earlier of a new facility. That new facility will provide some of that same capability. Within the entire inventory of buildings at CFB Bagotville, the commander there gives us advice as to his operational needs. Relocating some of that equipment to the newly constructed transport and vehicle maintenance facility will provide that capability. It is correct to say that Hangar 2 will be replaced by the new transport vehicle maintenance facility that I referenced earlier, and with the completion of that facility, then Hangar 2 will be demolished.

[Business of Supply, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Chair, the member has partly answered his own question, that moneys have already been spent. Moneys are identified. We clearly respond to our needs at the base level; that is, at all our bases across the country, but operational requirements and readiness take precedent in some cases.

When it comes to what is happening in Afghanistan today, we had clearly identified needs that had to be addressed first on a priority basis. The Canada first defence strategy, good news, is a long-term strategy that will involve considerable investments, $490 billion of investments, across the four pillars of the Canadian Forces.

Therefore, I would urge the hon. member, as he has failed to do on previous occasions, to stand up and vote for this budget, to stand up and vote for the allocations that will help places like Bagotville.

[Business of Supply, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Chair, I agree with the member.

Wood is very important. It is an essential resource for our country. My family is involved in the industry. It is clear that we used very effective materials for every project.

It is clear that we obviously go about these projects in a way in which we utilize the best possible equipment and the best possible material. We do it in the safest possible way to achieve the optimum result.

[Business of Supply, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Chair, we routinely provide briefings at the Department of National Defence. I know that the hon. member and others have expressed interest in contracts. We have a very open, transparent and inclusive process of procurement. Much of the detail of actual procurements is not handled by the Department of National Defence. Some might be surprised to hear that. It is actually done by the Department of Public Works. That is done in consultation with the Department of Industry.

What the Department of National Defence does consistently is outline our operational requirements and needs. We work in close consult with those other departments. However, if there is information that is readily available, we will be happy to share it.

[Business of Supply, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Chair, we take all of our commitments, all of our construction needs, particularly those needs that relate to health care within the Canadian Forces, very seriously.

However, I would encourage the hon. member to do more than just talk about these things. I would encourage him to literally stand behind these initiatives by standing in the House of Commons and voting for the money that we put into these initiatives, the ones of which he speaks of, because he has not done that.

The record will show that he has consistently voted against increases in budgetary needs for the Canadian Forces. He has voted against moneys that are specifically allocated for Bagotville. I do not know how he can reconcile his words today with his actions on those opportunities to stand up and vote for support for Bagotville.