Peter MacKay

[Points of Order, March 10th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order on a matter arising out of question period. You will find and the record will show that the leader of the New Democratic Party referred in his question today to the Prime Minister about the fact that I had indicated that our government had been aware of torture in Afghan prisons since taking office.

I think you will find that that is patently false. I have in fact said, outside the House, that we were aware of general concerns about conditions inside Afghan prisons and allegations of abuse.

Given the fact that the member of the New Democratic Party has made a statement that is patently false and attributed to me, I would ask that he withdraw that comment.

[Haiti, March 10th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, within 20 hours, members of the Canadian Forces were on the ground in the wake of the earthquake, assessing needs and delivering help to Haiti.

Thanks to this government's purchase of the C-17 aircraft, load after load of equipment and disaster relief was brought to Haiti. Then over 4,000 Canadians were brought home. We built runways, cleared roads, rescued people trapped in buildings, produced over two million litres of water and delivered almost one and a half million meals. Canadian Forces medics treated over 22,000 patients, delivered babies and performed surgeries.

All Canadians can be proud of our military, our aid workers and our diplomats who responded so compassionately in Haiti.

[Afghanistan, March 10th, 2010]

I will answer the righteous member this way, Mr. Speaker. What I will say is that if there is credible evidence and we have seen in the past information that led us to believe there were concerns, we acted.

We have continued to put our faith in members of the Canadian Forces, senior diplomats, those individuals who are closest to the ground. On the speculation that the hon. member raises, there will be an opportunity for it to be brought forward and discussed at a parliamentary committee.

[Afghanistan, March 10th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, this really gets to the root of the misunderstanding of the hon. member and many on the opposition side. It is not for the government to censor documents. These documents are examined by impartial arm's-length public servants within the Department of Justice.

With respect to information about this, information will be forthcoming. We have provided documents to parliamentary committees, to military police complaints commissions, and on every occasion Canadian Forces personnel have been found to have performed to the highest standards of integrity. We support them 100%.

[Afghanistan, March 10th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, to set the record straight, what General Natynczyk actually ordered was a report on information that was obtained with respect to a specific incident that involved a transfer of Canadian Forces to Afghan officials.

Mr. Natynczyk is out of the country presently. He will be back this week. I will have an opportunity to speak to him about that report and the information will be made public in due course.

[Supplementary Estimates (B), December 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of Christmas I want to admit that I was in the area behind my desk speaking to the Prime Minister when the vote was taken, so you may hear something from members opposite about that, but I will leave it up to your discretion. Ho, ho, ho.

[Afghanistan, December 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of National Defence, I of course rely on the advice of our senior generals and leaders in the military, as I did in the previous department. We will continue to work with the people whom we trust, those closest to the mission, those with the most knowledge and those with the most ability to give us good advice. We will continue to do that.

The member is suggesting by implication that the military did something wrong, that somehow they did not do the right thing. That is what is so despicable. I ask those members to slip out of their comfy shoes, pull on some combat boots and walk outside the wire with some of those men and women.

[Afghanistan, December 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, again, let me point out that all of the witnesses we have heard, with one exception, have testified on their version of what was happening in Afghanistan at the time because they were closest to the mission. They are top generals and bureaucrats who were in charge of this mission. We received that information through that prism.

The hon. member and most of the opposition continually suggest that they can accept that testimony and that evidence, but somehow suggest that the government should have come to different conclusions. I would ask the hon. member to somehow try to square that circle and figure out that this is the information that we acted upon.

When we took over this mission in 2006, there were many things that were wanting. We made positive improvements.

[Afghanistan, December 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, and of course once again the member leaves out the important fact that the Chief of the Defence Staff did not have that information, but when he did, he passed it on to us. As always, we act on the information available to us. We act on the information given to us by diplomats. When we do, we are able to make important improvements, as we did with the transfer arrangement, as we did with issues related to the prisons and human rights. We made important changes that improved upon the failed record of her government, improved upon the inadequate arrangement. We made important changes and investments in mentoring and training. Making things better, that is what our diplomats and soldiers do. She adds nothing to this file.

[Afghanistan, December 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, more of the same implicit contradictions; wash me but do not make me wet. We want to support the military, we want to suggest somehow that we take the word of the general and yet the general said at the same press conference that we are going to have a military board investigation to find out about this information, that we are going to follow up through the military to see what happened.

The hon. member should take a look at what the general said, the entire part of his press conference where he talked about how we will get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, the member should recognize the improvements that have been made. She should recognize the failures of her government and the improvements we have made in the mission on this side of the House.