Peter MacKay

[Afghanistan, March 31st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for bringing this question forward. I thank the Globe and Mail for highlighting again that the Canadian Forces act responsibility. Whenever there has been a credible allegation, we have acted responsibly and done the right thing. We continue to do so.

With respect to the issue he refers to, we now have retired Supreme Court Justice Mr. Iacobucci looking at documents with respect to disclosure, as have arm's-length public servants in the past.

We have the Military Police Complaints Commission now operating and looking at the same issue. We have the committee, of which the hon. member is a member, also looking at this issue.

[Foreign Affairs, March 29th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, all members can be extremely proud of the work being done by the men and women in uniform in Afghanistan, as they can be with the work they did in Haiti and the work in Africa in the past.

Currently I can tell my hon. friend that future deployments of the Canadian Forces will be decided upon by the government in consultation with our capabilities, of course, and with senior leadership in the Canadian Forces.

Until the year 2011, we know that the primary commitment to the world is to continue our work in Afghanistan.

[Afghanistan, March 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, as mentioned, this was a decision taken by the commander on the ground in Afghanistan.

With respect to disclosures, the yearly release of information avoids any direct incident-specific correlation between Taliban actions. Precise information of that nature, with respect to locations, the number of injuries, could, in some ways, assist the Taliban in adapting their planning and their operations.

As a government, as a military, we will not do that.

[Afghanistan, March 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, like the hon. member and I am sure all members, we send our condolences to Corporal Fitzpatrick's family. I had the poignant experience of speaking with the family today.

I would indicate to the hon. member that the aim around disclosures of information is meant to meet a public balance and that is of course to ensure that any decision taken around disclosures of information is in keeping with decisions taken by the commander on the ground firstly, done so recognizing the importance of the necessity of operational safety; that is, to not endanger our troops by giving information that would assist the Taliban.

[National Defence, March 18th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, this issue goes back a number of years.

We have great concern, obviously, for the people of Shannon. That is why we are working with them, working with the municipality and the provincial government.

In fact, at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier we are providing potable water to Canadian Forces members and their families as well as the municipality, and since 1998, successive federal governments have spent upward of $60 million with respect to this issue.

We will continue to work to assist the municipality of Shannon. It is a matter of concern. We are seized with the issue and there has been, as the hon. member has mentioned, court actions. We continue to look for solutions.

[Afghanistan, March 17th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about events that happened a number of years ago. It is interesting to note that in fact the issue around NATO prisons circulated years ago, but in November 2007 General Ray Henault, a Canadian, then the chair of NATO's military committee, publicly ruled out the creation of NATO prisons.

We are there not to build prisons for Afghans; we are there to help them build capacity to do these things for themselves. We will continue to do so.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs indicated, we have invested in Afghan prisons. We continue to monitor prisoners transferred by our forces. We will continue to work to build that capacity.

[Afghanistan, March 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the truth of the matter is that any time we have been aware of credible evidence, we have acted. We have acted responsibly, and I think we can all say with great pride that what the members of the Canadian Forces, our diplomats, and aid workers in Afghanistan did then and continue to do now is their level best to improve the situation. We can all be proud of that. But here is what Eugene Lang, the former chief of staff to two Liberal defence ministers, had to say: “The...government improved the agreement. The concerns that Ms. Olexiuk raised and the provisions that she apparently at that time had argued for were indeed put in the agreement by the” current government.

We improved the situation.

[Afghanistan, March 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, this reporting is not new, nor has it surprised anyone in the House that almost three years ago we acted on the advice of senior officials to put in place a new transfer arrangement that improved upon the arrangement that was lacking, and left in place by the previous government. As a result, we have invested more in Afghan prisons, in officials, in training, and mentoring and monitoring. We are trying to improve a situation that I think everyone acknowledges is very difficult, something that we have been aware of for some time.

[Afghanistan, March 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the point of the review was to have another independent review of documents pertaining to the handling of Taliban prisoners. We have to look at this in its scope and examine that information as it might impact on operations and on information received from a foreign government.

This is the undertaking of this government. We are bringing Mr. Iacobucci into a process that already has an independent review, called the public service, that looks at redactions to determine that same said process.

[Afghanistan, March 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it was just indicated that Justice Iacobucci, who is clearly a respected jurist in this country, will undertake a comprehensive review of documents.

By the way, this is the same type of review that is done routinely by independent public servants in examining documents. Mr. Iacobucci will do the same thing. That information will be reviewed by him. There will be a report back to the House or to a proper committee. This is very much in keeping with practices around documents such as these.