Peter MacKay

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I remind the hon. member, and he was in committee yesterday, Mr. Colvin himself admitted he had no first-hand evidence to give. In fact, the observations that he made of one single individual, who he could not say, by the way, was transferred from Canadian Forces, he could not confirm that the marks he observed were actually from any abuse that had been received.

There are incredible holes in the story that have to be examined. I know hon. members would like to turn this into a large brouhaha. The facts have to be examined, they matter, and evidence has to be examined. That is what we are doing.

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Again, Mr. Speaker, here is the truth.

We inherited an inadequate transfer arrangement. We inherited a situation that was very difficult with respect to the handling of Taliban prisoners. We acted on advice from a number of diplomats, including the ambassador. We invested important resources into improving Afghanistan's justice system, improving its penal system, and ensuring that it had the proper training for the handling of individuals.

That is action. That is appropriate. That is credible. That is what we have done. To suggest that every single Taliban prisoner was tortured is not credible.

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been transparent on the issue of Afghanistan. We have made disclosures with respect to investments that we made, particularly on the human rights issue.

When it comes to the prisoners and the treatment of Taliban prisoners, when it comes to their justice system, we have invested over $132 million to improve that system.

I am very proud of the fact that we have dedicated soldiers, civil servants, and individuals who are working closely with the government of Afghanistan, as challenging as that is, to see that we improve its capacity. We will continue to do so.

That is the real work that is being done. This is a witch hunt.

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, what is interesting is that members opposite clearly have no faith in the parliamentary process itself because they are calling for another process to get under way in addition to the Military Police Complaints Commission, which is also under way. We did not shut it down; the chair shut it down.

If the hon. member really wants to feign indignation, point the finger, and make this a political issue, he is free to do so on the floor of the House of Commons. But when it comes to the work that is being done in committees, in judicial inquiries, and in the work of the police commission, we have to have facts, truth, evidence and rules of procedure.

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, let us take it out of the realm of politics. Let us take it into the realm of a quote from a senior former diplomat in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Paul Chapin. Here is what he had to say yesterday about the testimony: “I think what set me back is how serious the allegations are and how flimsy the evidence is”. He goes on to say: “It would have been rather more reassuring had he been able to provide some of the detail that would give credibility to these very serious allegations”.

This is from a senior member of the foreign service who casts doubt on the credibility of the testimony we heard yesterday.

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in addition to the suspect source of the information upon which the hon. member would have us all rely, it is interesting to note that Mr. Colvin could not even say that the Taliban prisoners that he himself interviewed were in fact those who were transferred by Canadian troops.

Mr. Colvin cannot even say that the source on which he based much of his testimony yesterday actually came from those who were transferred by Canadian Forces. We are being asked to accept testimony from people who throw acid in the faces of schoolchildren and who blow up buses of civilians in their own country. I will not accept that testimony. I am surprised that he would.

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. Nobody is attacking the individual. What we are attacking here is the importance of the credibility of information that the Canadian public and a parliamentary inquiry is being asked to accept. That is what is at stake here.

I think that even the hon. member, who purports to be a lawyer, does know a little bit about due process. This is evidence that is being asked to be accepted without question. It is based on second- and third-hand information and Taliban information.

These are very serious allegations. They deserve very serious scrutiny and frankly, they are not credible.

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it has been stated here a number of times that there has not been a single, solitary proven allegation of abuse involving a transferred Taliban prisoner by Canadian Forces. Second, with respect to the evidence yesterday, what we know is that when the evidence is put to the test, it simply does not stand up.

Mr. Colvin had an opportunity to speak directly to me and other ministers of the government who were in Afghanistan. He did not raise the issue. As well, what is being relied upon here is nothing short of hearsay, second- or third-hand information, or that which came directly from the Taliban.

[National Defence, November 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. We have great sympathy and concerns for anyone affected by the situation involving the water in Shannon, which is why we have invested significantly, in fact, $40 million initially to improve the water system and another $13.3 million to complete the construction of the existing water system to help the people of Shannon. That initiative was taken by my colleague from Quebec.

The issue with respect to the court is an issue over the review of disclosed material. It is the government's view that this case has no longer qualified as a class action suit and we are moving to have it dismissed. However, with respect to the people of Quebec, the people of Shannon, we will continue to work to find solutions.

[Afghanistan, November 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as has been stated many times, we have co-operated with the Military Police Complaints Commission. We have co-operated with parliamentary committees. We have co-operated with investigations.

I state again that there has never been a single solitary proven allegation of abuse of a Taliban prisoner transferred by the Canadian Forces. It is important the member knows that since this new arrangement has been put in place, there have been over 170 visits to Afghan prisons to ensure this new arrangement is improving human rights.

That is what our government did. We improved upon the situation. We will continue to make improvements in that country.