Stephen Harper

[National Defence, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals can talk all they want about investments they made in the military. We are not going to find a single person in the military anywhere in the country who believes that. People know about the decade of darkness.

The party opposite and its coalition friends use every attempt, every piece of misinformation to try to oppose anything we do for our men and women in uniform. It is absolutely disgraceful.

The member named several other countries, all of which are going to buy the F-35 and so are we, because our air force is going to have the best equipment in the world to do its job.

[National Defence, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we are doing. When the party opposite was in government, it understood this was exactly the right thing.

However, when it comes to managing taxpayer money through a recession, I will not make any apologies to a party that cut the military, that cut health care, that cut education and that raised taxes. We are on a very different track in this government.

[National Defence, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. We are following a process that was put in place by the previous government. The previous government put it in place because it understood that at the end of this decade we would have to replace our CF-18 fighters and we would have to be part of a world consortium and get the best of that here, not just the best planes, but get the work to be done in our country.

That is why the previous government did it. Now the Liberals want to play coalition politics to scrap this deal. This government will not play politics with the men and women of the armed forces or the Canadian air force.

[National Defence, October 27th, 2010]

Of course not, Mr. Speaker. But the government does not have to issue any such orders, because the truth of the matter is this: when it comes to standing up for the men and women in uniform, getting them the equipment they need, these people understand that there is only one party in this Parliament that supports them. It is this government. When it comes to improving benefits for our veterans, there is only one party that has not voted against those things, as the NDP has done. It is this party. We will continue to protect our men and women in uniform today and in the future.

[National Defence, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, these are two different matters. Of course the government will act on the recommendations vis-à-vis the helicopter situation. There has been a process in place for this since the days of the previous Liberal government.

The leader of the NDP, however, should not pretend for a moment that he is raising these concerns on behalf of the military. The military has been absolutely clear about the need here. This is simply coalition politics playing games with military contracts, against what the entire aerospace industry and the entire defence establishment realize is necessary. The government is going to proceed.

[National Defence, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about two completely different acquisitions. In the case of the helicopters, as I have already said, the government will look at the Auditor General's recommendations and take action. In the case of the F-35 fighter jets, a contract process has been in place for a long time, in fact, since the previous Liberal government was in power. These jets absolutely must be replaced before the end of this decade.

[Public Works and Government Services, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc has made allegations against the minister and certain government contracts. Senior officials involved testified before the parliamentary committee yesterday and they were all quite clear: there was no interference in the granting of these contracts.

[National Defence, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, this government does listen to the Auditor General. We have the right process when it comes to the CF-18s and F-35s. They are not the same file, which the opposition does not seem to understand.

However, let me tell everyone about the responsibilities we have. We have a responsibility to replace fighter aircraft and not play politics with the lives of our men and women in uniform. We have a responsibility, when it is National Aviation Day, to ensure we protect the people, the men and women who work in that industry, against the irresponsible behaviour of the Leader of the Opposition and his coalition. That is what we will do.

[National Defence, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the government is reviewing and will implement recommendations by the Auditor General.

However, the reason there are problems with the helicopters is that 17 years ago the Liberal government cancelled the helicopter contract, paid $1 billion to get no helicopters at all and subsequent governments had to deal with that decision.

We will not make the same mistake when it comes to replacing the CF-18s. We are going to buy the best equipment for the Canadian Forces. We already have work going to the aviation sector across the country, which the coalition will put in jeopardy, but this government will not.

[National Defence, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we have seen the Auditor General's report. She made some recommendations concerning the helicopter purchase and future transactions. Of course the government will act on those recommendations. At the same time, a process to purchase the fighter jets has been in place for quite some time, and the government will proceed in order to ensure the best aircraft for our air force personnel.