Month: November 2006

Gordon O’Connor (Minister of Defence): The Liberal government gave the military 45 minutes to commit troops to Afghanistan. 

Ralph Goodale (Liberal) Wascana: Asking about the training program at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Which NATO countries are at the Nato Flying Training Centre. What are the duration of their contracts? Will any of these contracts be ended prematurely? What will be the effect of a weakened flight training program? Could the Snowbirds be sustained without the NATO training program?

O’Connor: Doesn’t have all the details on those questions but promised to get them to Goodale. “From our point of view … it has a great future.” The primary purpose is train Canadian pilots. “Moose Jaw is vital to training Canadian pilots. The Snowbirds also have a great future.”

… and with that, I think the juice is just about out on my laptop. Back online as soon as I find some power up here ….

[Posted from the House of Commons press gallery during a “Committee of the Whole” debate on defence issues.]

Dawn Black (NDP): New Westminster-Port Coquitlam: Who owns the base at Kandahar?

Gordon O’Connor (Minister of Defence): “We pay a proportional share of running the base.” The base is owned by the U.S. and will shortly be transferred to the U.S.

Black: Asks about icebreakers and Arctic sovereignty. What about hovercraft instead of icebreakers? Says the Canadian Coast Guard has experienced some troubles using hovercraft in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in icy conditions.

O’Connor: In our policy, what we have asked is that the Navy be able to operate in three oceans – Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic. Says Navy is looking at the issue and will come back to his office with a recommendation. 

Black: Does that mean the governnment is committed to the Arctic sovereignty promise or are they waffling on an election promise.

O’Connor: Says he’s waiting for the Navy to present his government with options to fulfill that promise.

Black: Are U.S. forces stationed in the Arctic? 

O’Connor: “To my knowledge, there are no U.S. forces stationed in the North and, to my knowledge, there are no U.S. military sensors operating under water.”  

Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale has joined the debate.The BQ’s Claude Bachand has left the House.  

[Posted from the press gallery in the House of Commons where defence matters are the subject matter for a “Committee of the Whole” proceeding that began at about 7 pm Ottawa time and could run until well past 9:30 pm.]

Claude Bachand: (BQ) St. Jean:  When you send tanks, it’s not to re-build schools, it’s to seek out and hunt Taliban. The mission is directed too much towards military goals and not enough to reconstruction.

Gordon O’Connor: (Minister of Defence) “It is not a military-oriented mission as such but we have to bring the Taliban under control. Remember what kind of murderous regime it was before NATO moved in there.”

Bachand: He moves on to aerospace — to the procurement contracts for military aircraft. He speaks to the Boeing contracts for the C-17 and the Chinook helicopter. We want to have regional spinoffs. We want to have Canadian spinoffs that benefit from these multi-billion dollar contracts. “It seems that Boeing is deciding with regards to Canadian content.” About 60 per cent of the Canadian aerospace industry is located in the province of Quebec. Bachand says he’s worried the Canadian taxpayer will not get value for their money.

O’Connor: Says he’s not the Minister of Industry and so cannot speak to the industrial benefits aspect of the procurement package. “The equipment we’re requiring is what is need for the armed forces.”

Bachand : Says taxpayers are the losers. Says the minister knows the specs for the contract.

O’Connor: Says every dollar spent by the military to buy goods will be returned to Canada in the form of investment by the winning bidder.

Dawn Black (NDP): New Westminster-Port Coquitlam: Says that she has been told that the mission has cost $1.8–billion so far and could cost more than $2–billion. “These are the incremental costs, and not the full cost to DND.” If you add up the full costs, you get a sum of over $4.1–billion for the Afghanistan mission. She wants an update on the costs of the mission.

O’Connor: The incremental costs for the mission in Afghanistan right now is $2.1 billion. The estimated incremental cost to come is $1.8–billion. So the total incremental cost is $3.9–billion.

Black: Deploying the Leopard tanks she says will  cost $157–million. She says that has to be weighed against cuts the Conservatives made here at home to literacy programs and programs to improve the status of women. She wants the costs of shipping each Leopard tank. She wants the costs of each Excalibur round fired by the M777.

O’Connor: The total to send the tanks to Afghanistan is $189–million. That includes transportation and all the other associated  stuff. He says there are no Excalibur rounds in the armed forces.

 

[I’m in the press gallery in the House of Commons for a Committee of the Whole debate that is focusing on Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor.

The debate began a few minutes ago and could last until 9:30 pm or later tonight. MPs will come and go during this debate.]

Gord Brown, (Conservative) Leeds-Grenville, follows O’Connor’s opening remarks and speaks about Canada’s reserve forces. The Brockville Rifles, in his riding, “is an outstanding reserve unit.” There are 125 members of the Brockville Rifles, many of them are of high school age. “The Canadian Forces reserver are also an integral part of our forces.” Reservist make up 13 per cent of the department. One of every seven soldiers in Afghanistan is a reservist. Brown asks O’Connor to update the House on reservists.

Gordon O’Connor (Minister of Defence): There are 25,000 reservists in nine separate military organizations. 45 per cent of reserves hold full-time civilian jobs. DND is trying to expand the reserve force to 35,000, as per the Conservatives election commitment. “Reservists are playing an invaluable role in Afghanistan.” 40 per cent of reservists are students.

Claude Bachand: (BQ) St. Jean: (speaking in French) Says he’s not a Liberal, in case you’re watching on TV, though he’s sitting with them. The BQ is not satisifed with the mission in Afghanistan. The BQ asked the Liberals when they began the mission about its purpose. The BQ believed that reconstruction would be a big focus. “But what we have seen is a change in the mandate of the mission. We’re there to seek out and hunt the Taliban. A lot of people feel we’re there only to hunt the Taliban.” Bachand asks O’Connor, how much money has been spent, will be spent, before we get on with other purposes, such as reconstruction and diplomacy.

O’Connor: “The primary purpose of the military in Afghanistan is to support development.” Says more military units have been committed to support reconstruction teams. “The Battle Group is there not only to protect the provincial reconstruction team (PRT), it is there to protect the Afghan aid groups.” Says when he talks to troops, he says the mission is to protect the development mission. “Our focus hasn’t changed. It’s the same mission we inherited.” But he says the level of violence has risen and the Canadian Forces has had to respond.

Bachand: “What the minister appears to be saying is he needs reinforcements to protect the PRT.”

Note: NDP defence critic Dawn Black is now in the House for the debate.  Justice Minister Vic Toews has now come into the House for the debate.

This is posted from the press gallery in the House of Commons for a Committee of the Whole debate that is focusing on Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor.

The debate began at about 7 pm and could last until 9:30 pm or later tonight. MPs will come and go during this debate.

I’m in the press gallery in the House of Commons for a Committee of the Whole debate that is focusing on Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor.

The debate began a few minutes ago and could last until 9:30 pm or later tonight. MPs will come and go during this debate.

Who’s here now?

Conservatives: Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor, O’Connor’s Parliamentary Secretary Russ Hiebert, Deputy House Leader Tom Lukiwski, and eleven other Conservative MPs

Liberals: Leader Bill Graham, Defence Critic Ujjal Dosanjh and seven other Liberal MPs.

BQ: Defence Critic Claude Bachand.

NDP: None.

Others: Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier, Deputy Minister Ward Elcock.

The Chair of this meeting is NDP MP Bill Blaikie

Dosanjh led off by asking about re-rolling and troop training.

O’Connor is now delivering his speech.

 

Don Cherry was in the House of Commons today for Question Period and, at the conclusion of QP, Speaker Peter Milliken recognized the “hockey personality”. Many MPs cheered. But some booed. From my spot in the Commons press gallery, it appeared that the booing was mostly coming from the Bloc Quebecois MPs.

Cherry, as any who have watched him over the years know, has sometimes said things about French Canadian hockey players that have got him in a spot of trouble.

Jean Lapierre, the Liberal MP from Montreal, raised a point of order immediately after Milliken recognized Cherry, suggesting that he should not have been recognized by the Chair. Outside the House, Lapierre said Cherry’s views have upset many French Canadians. Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe said Cherry was “not good for hockey.”

Just before leaving the Hill, we caught up with Cherry who shrugged off all the kerfuffle, saying he gives Prime Minister Stephen Harper a big thumbs up for his support of the troops in Afghanistan.

More later, as I go through the video tape.