Peter MacKay

[Food Safety, October 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Liberal Party was in the House and he knows that the minister has held officials accountable with respect to this issue. The minister has been working throughout this process to ensure that we have more food safety capacity.

We have more legislation now. We have more investment directly into the issue of having more inspectors. We have increased the CFIA's budget by $156 million during our time in government. There are more front-line workers and more safety for Canadians.

[Food Safety, October 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the House the Minister of Agriculture is working very hard and is working sincerely to ensure that this issue is dealt with appropriately, including ensuring we have more food inspectors, more meat inspectors.

It goes further than that. We have new legislation that has been introduced, safe food for Canadians, to help CFIA respond to food safety situations quickly.

What has happened? When we have tried to do this, made new investments, brought new legislation forward to improve safety for Canadians, that leader and that party have opposed it all the way.

[Food Safety, October 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I repeat: the Minister of Agriculture will continue to hold those responsible for food safety accountable in order to ensure that the CFIA responds quickly and effectively.

Let us be clear. Under this government we have actually seen an increase in inspectors. We have actually seen 700 food inspectors added to the roll since 2006, including 170 particular to the subject of meat inspection.

[Food Safety, October 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian consumers are still the top priority when it comes to food safety.

The Minister of Agriculture will continue to hold those responsible for food safety accountable in order to ensure that the CFIA responds quickly and effectively.

[National Defence, September 27th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, ignoring the prattle, the irresponsible remarks from the member's preamble, I will repeat again that in fact the special forces commander brought in the auditor. That was done at their request. The auditor looked at their practices, found in fact that there was a good system but further work had to be done in tracing and tracking all equipment. Those practices are improving, I am assured by the commander.

What we do know is that, given the record and the comments by members opposite from the NDP, if it were up to them they would have no new equipment in the special forces, or the Canadian Forces.

[National Defence, September 27th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that three years ago, on their own initiative, the commander of the special forces brought in DND's internal auditor to review their financial management practices and to look to identify areas of improvement. Guess what that audit found? The audit found that appropriate financial controls were in place but that additional work had to be done, particularly when it came to tracing and keeping track of all equipment within the special forces systems, and that other financial statements had to be put in place.

We have taken that audit very seriously. I have assurances from the commander that those steps will be taken.

I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank our special forces for their remarkable work.

[National Defence, September 26th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, an independent military ombudsman plays a very important role in moderating the interests of Canadian Forces personnel and providing impartial advice.

We support the office of the ombudsman the same way we support the MPCC, the same way we support the grievance board, as they work within their mandate and will continue to do so.

Our government, of course, has enormous respect for the men and women of the Canadian Forces. Unlike the member and his party who brought about a decade of darkness, we are bringing a decade of delivery.

[National Defence, September 25th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, you are looking at him.

I will tell the House, I am so proud of the support our government has provided for our men and women in uniform, $1 billion annually to address all the needs across the Canada first defence strategy.

With respect to the ombudsman, he was very supportive in his remarks that he made about our changes. He said, “we're very, very pleased to see that there's a strong commitment from the minister and the senior leadership, and as a matter of fact, to address this shortfall and to bring more care providers on the front line”.

That is a glowing endorsement from the ombudsman, whom the hon. member seems to be trying to defend.

[National Defence, September 25th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, again the member is wrong. It is the usual rhetoric from that individual.

We have continually throughout our time in office made more investments into the mental health professionals who we have in the employ of the Canadian Forces. We continue to work with professional associations. We continue to work with the soldiers themselves, like the Be the Difference campaign led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Walt Natynczyk, that was meant to de-stigmatize any recognition of a mental health illness suffered from deployment or otherwise.

Yes, there will always be more to do. Yes, we are tremendously indebted to those who have put their lives on the line for our country. We continue to work to improve them.

[National Defence, September 25th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. We have just introduced additional supports for members of the Canadian Forces suffering from post-traumatic stress. We have made a concerted effort during our time in office to hire more mental health professionals and make them available to those suffering from post-traumatic stress.

The ombudsman's report actually noted those progressive moves that we have made and lauded the government for those efforts.

I continue to have faith in the process as we continue to work with psychiatrists, mental health professionals and chaplains across the country to ensure that those ill and injured soldiers receive the best support possible.