Ujjal Dosanjh

[National Defence, June 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it is well-known in the defence department that the defence capabilities plan has been redrafted over 40 times as the Conservative political agenda is impossible to reconcile with the needs of the military.

While the troops in theatre have an urgent need for tactical airlift, the minister continues to focus on C-17s. It seems that Canada will end up paying for two fleets of aircraft when the military only needs one.

Why will the Prime Minister not intervene to end this conflict and save the taxpayers billions of dollars?

[National Defence, June 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we do not support their political platform. We support the needs of the military, as articulated by General Hillier.

The reality, contrary to a well-established tradition, is that the maintenance of the aircraft would be done by the Americans, the aircraft would spend most of their time on American soil, we do not have any hangars for them, and the Americans would have a veto on where they could fly. Is that the Conservatives' “Canada first” policy, being second in command of our own fleet?

[National Defence, June 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, could the Minister of National Defence confirm that under international trade and arms regulations the C-17 aircraft the Canadian government plans to purchase from the United States would carry with it a veto for the U.S. over where in the world that aircraft could be flown?

[National Defence, June 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it appears that the minister's brain is still locked up in the military lock-up. The minister, not recognizing his obvious conflict of interest, could open the door for losing bidders to go before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal.

Will the Minister of Public Works, responsible for the procurement process, request from his department a legal opinion on the liability of the government on any procurement where the Minister of National Defence, being in conflict, was previously involved as a lobbyist?

[National Defence, June 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence has publicly spoken of his procurement wish list of six major capital projects, where the total cost of the projects, including life cycle costs, adds up to close to $20 billion. As a former lobbyist, he represented at least four major companies involved in these potential purchases.

Will he come to grips with reality and recuse himself from those procurements where he was previously involved as a lobbyist?

[National Defence, May 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, for reasons of security and sovereignty and to maximize the regional industrial benefits for Canadian industry, previous governments invoked national security exceptions to ensure that maintenance contracts for all our air fleets were handled by Canadian companies.

Could the minister commit today to the Canadian aerospace industry that it will be responsible for the maintenance of any Canadian military aircraft the government will acquire?

[National Defence, May 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, considering the government's recent extension of the Afghanistan mission, and following General Hillier's plea to have tactical airlift as soon as possible, could the minister reassure the House that the government's first airlift acquisition will be the tactical airlift to meet the immediate needs of our forces in Afghanistan?

[National Defence, May 12th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals provided the largest single budget increase in the last 20 years for defence.

Despite his repetition of his compliance with the previous standards, where he came from and all the rules, the fact is that no prime minister in Canadian history has appointed a highly paid lobbyist as minister for a department that he had lobbied. Because of his past, the minister is absolutely in a potential conflict of interest. He is dealing with a $1 billion contract for the purchase of trucks, where Stewart Stevenson, one of the former lobbyists, is the leading--

[National Defence, May 12th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of National Defence refused to answer whether or not he met with the members of the project team responsible for the truck purchase for the military. Let me help the minister remember by informing him that it has been confirmed that he did meet with the members of the project team.

The minister should stop hiding the truth. He should do the honest and honourable thing by telling the House whom he met with, how many times, and when.

[National Defence, May 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat my question once again.

Did the minister meet with the project team responsible for that purchase? Who did he meet? How many times did they meet? When did he meet with people in DND, either on the military side or the civilian side?