Peter MacKay

[Afghanistan, April 15th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, as a barrister and solicitor, as is the hon. member, as a former member of SIRC, somebody supposedly well-versed in the handling of confidential information that could impact national security, the hon. member surely knows that there is this little curious thing called substantiated evidence that has to enter into the fact of the examination.

When specific allegations are brought forward, we have forums, investigations and the ability to look into them. However, in yesterday's testimony, there was no specific evidence offered, by the witness' own admission.

[Afghanistan, April 15th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, nor can the hon. member or anyone else continue to dismiss the testimony of senior members of the military and the diplomatic corps.

What I would suggest is that each and every time there have been specific allegations presented on this subject matter, the Canadian Forces investigates. That was reinforced yesterday in a statement from the Chief of the Defence Staff, Walt W. J. Natynczyk. Each and every time there are specific allegations, appropriate officials take appropriate action.

[Afghanistan, April 15th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the key word in the hon. member's question was “allegations”.

In fact, what we heard yesterday was that a witness before the committee made allegations and when specifically asked about those allegations said that he had no specific evidence to support the claims. In fact, it was the hon. member who posed questions to him that elicited that response.

When specifically asked if he had even been in the area when the alleged incidents occurred, he said “No”.

[Afghanistan, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we have heard continually from the leadership of the Canadian Forces and the soldiers on the ground doing their work, each and every time there has been a credible allegation of wrongdoing. These are allegations, by the way, of things that take place inside Afghan prisons, of Afghans on Taliban prisoners who have been transferred after being picked up for being involved in trying to blow up Canadian soldiers or affect the citizenship of their own country.

When we transfer them over to the authorities in Afghanistan and allegations arise, we investigate. We have a new transfer arrangement in place, much improved upon the previous government's—

[Afghanistan, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, this is another allegation that is completely false. I have here a quote from Brigadier General Denis Thompson.

This is what Mr. Thompson had to say about this subject matter:

...what we train on is the third Geneva convention. We make sure we handle all detainees in accordance with the regulations that are laid out there...

This is from a senior member of the Canadian Forces, a commander leading the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan during the period in question. Why will the hon. member not take the word of the hard-working, dedicated, professional leadership of the Canadian Forces instead of a journalist?

[Afghanistan, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, again, there are so many inaccuracies in that question that I do not know where to begin. What I can tell him is that I just returned from Afghanistan. There I saw the incredible work of dedicated men and women in uniform as well as officials from CIDA and the Department of Foreign Affairs doing incredible things to help the people of Afghanistan.

Are we handing out money? No, we are paying Afghans to do important work to improve the infrastructure of their own country. I saw it first-hand. Why does the hon. member not dig a little deeper into these facts before he comes into this chamber and starts disparaging the good work of the Canadian Forces?

[Afghanistan, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member likes to believe every single solitary word he reads in The Globe and Mail, but let me quote from that same article. It says:

However, Canadian soldiers who served at the JPCC said they were unaware of any payments...

It goes on to quote a Canadian officer who says, “We never paid those guys”. Why would he not take the word of a Canadian soldier on this matter instead of a journalist?

[Afghanistan, April 1st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, here is what the witness actually said yesterday, “The 2007 arrangement I think would be recognized across the board by most officials as a vast improvement over the original transfer arrangement”. He went on to talk about there not being a problem right now as far as transferring detainees, because we have a much more rigid oversight mechanism in place.

Brigadier General Denis Thompson went on to talk about the valuable information that was received from the NDS in the fight against terrorism.

So, we are making improvements. These are vast improvements over the situation we saw when we went there in 2006.

[Afghanistan, March 31st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I can only say what I said to his coalition partner a moment ago, three and a half years ago we recognized there was an issue, but this does not underscore the excellent work of the Canadian Forces. It recognizes that when a credible allegation comes forward, the forces act appropriately.

The same could be said of our diplomats. The same could be said of the ongoing efforts to improve the situation in Afghanistan. When there was credible evidence, Canadian Forces acted. When the issue was brought forward, a suspension of transfers occurred. Those issues were discussed in the House two years ago. I think the hon. member was here then. There is nothing new.

[Afghanistan, March 31st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. friend for that calm, introspective, forward looking question. As he knows, over three years ago we dealt with this issue. We have had a new transfer arrangement in place now that allows for monitoring, mentoring. We have invested in the Afghan prison system, in the actual physical surroundings where prisoners are transferred. We continue to try to improve upon that.

However, here is what a former chief of staff to two Liberal defence ministers had to say:

This government improved the agreement. The concerns that a particular bureaucrat...had raised and the provisions that she had apparently at that time argued for were indeed put in the agreement by this government, the Conservative government, and kudos to them.