Peter MacKay

[Afghanistan, February 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I want to point out an important matter. First, the allegation with respect to the governor is not a Canadian transferred prisoner.

Second, with respect to the governor of Kandahar, we must not forget that this is an individual appointed by the sovereign elected government of Afghanistan.

We will continue to abide by the agreement that we signed and improved upon, the flawed one of the previous government. This agreement is in place to do exactly what we have always done, which is to stand up for human rights and ensure that prisoners who are transferred are treated properly.

[Afghanistan, February 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, if the members opposite were not so intent upon shutting down any further discussions at the committee level by Mr. Manley and members of the committee coming before a parliamentary committee to have a reasonable and rational discussion about this particular report, we could ask him that.

What I can say is that the process we have in place was improved upon from the previous government. It was done so specifically to deal with allegations of abuse, and that has happened. There has been no hiding of the truth. There have been operational decisions taken in the field as they should be taken.

[Afghanistan, February 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said moments ago, of course I met with the governor. I met with the president of Afghanistan. I met with the defence minister. In fact, I did so immediately upon hearing of these credible allegations. I sought assurances from them that there would be a full investigation, that they would look into these allegations and in fact the individual involved should be immediately suspended. There were assurances given that would happen.

Members would know as well that the operational decision then taken by the military was to suspend transfers. Everything that happened should have happened.

I know members opposite do not want to hear that. They want to hear that there was a flurry of press releases, but that did not happen.

[Afghanistan, February 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, cutting through the histrionics, hyperventilating and hyperbole coming from the member opposite, he would know, as a member of the previous government, that we have improved upon an agreement that was flawed under his government. We have made it much more possible to have eyes inside the Afghan prisons. This is exactly what we set out to do.

With respect to Governor Khalid, of course I would meet with an individual who is the governor of a province in which there are over 2,500 Canadians. I met with him, as I met with the president of Afghanistan and my counterpart, the minister of defence.

[Afghanistan, January 31st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, in short, no, we will not admit this because the policy has not changed.

The Prime Minister has clearly stated, as I have stated, that the policy remains the same. Operational matters around the subject of transfers of prisoners are in the hands of the best people in the world to do so, and that is the Canadian Forces.

We stand behind the Canadian Forces.

[Afghanistan, January 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the premise of the question is false. It is not true that Canada did not communicate with NATO. We have always communicated with NATO.

The deputy leader likes to wonder why we do not communicate on operational detail. It is because, and it should not come as surprise to him, the Taliban actually monitor the media. They might also be interested to know that he said, “...defeating terror requires violence. It may also require coercion, secrecy, deception, even violation of rights”. That is what the deputy leader of the Liberal Party had to say to his favourite publication, The New York Times.

[Afghanistan, January 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, that is patently false. We communicate regularly with NATO officials. I speak regularly with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the secretary general.

On this subject matter, again, because of the operational details that are involved in this arrangement, which flow from the flawed agreement that we improved upon, NATO was apprised. It would have come through the chain of command in Afghanistan as appropriate.

[The Environment, January 29th, 2008]

First of all, Mr. Speaker, this is no laughing matter; it is a very serious issue.

Second, I have met the mayor of Shannon together with my colleague, the hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages.

Finally, we have a clear understanding of the situation. There is a plan in place, which is to continue to work with the community in Shannon and work toward a solution to this issue with the water.

[National Defence, January 29th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, here is the simple truth. We have budgeted for these items. We have budgeted for UAVs. We have budgeted for the necessary helicopters. As I said, the procurement process is well under way.

Here is the other simple truth. The party opposite when in government starved our military. We saw our military rusting out and caving in. We saw members leaving because of the neglect and the absolute ignoring of their needs by the party opposite when it was in government. That is the simple truth.

[National Defence, January 29th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada, the Department of National Defence in conjunction with the Department of Public Works as well as Industry Canada are working at an accelerated pace to secure this important information on unmanned aerial devices as well as Chinook helicopters. We have already well begun the procurement process.

We hope, in keeping with the recommendations of the Manley report, to have that equipment soon. I can assure the House that this process is well under way.