EVIDENCE Standing Committee on National Defence NUMBER 008 2nd SESSION 39th PARLIAMENT Tuesday, January 29, 2008 Le mardi 29 janvier 2008 Standing Committee on National Defence CANADA [Recorded by Electronic Apparatus] EVIDENCE January 29, 2008 Committee Edited Evidence * Table of Contents * Number 008 (Official Version) Official Report * Table of Contents * Number 008 (Official Version) Témoignages * Table des matières * Numéro 008 (Version officielle) 08 29 01 2008 2008/01/29 15:40:00 House of Commons Comité permanent de la défense nationale Standing Committee on National Defence NDDN Chair Mr. Rick Casson 39 2 PUBLIC PART ONLY -

PARTIE PUBLIQUE SEULEMENT (1720) [ English ] The Chair (Mr. Rick Casson (Lethbridge, CPC)) : We will reconvene. We're in open session now; we came out of in camera. Mr. Hawn is proposing a.... Go ahead, Mr. Hawn. I'll let you explain what you're doing. Mr. Laurie Hawn (Edmonton Centre, CPC) : [ Inaudible--Editor ]...motion for Thursday. The Chair : The floor is yours, sir. Mr. Laurie Hawn : I'll just read it.

It's fairly self-explanatory and not very long: Pursuant to standing order 108(1)(a), that the committee meet jointly at its first opportunity with the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs...to discuss the Manley Report, and that the chairmanship of the joint proceedings alternate between the respective chairs of the two standing committees; and that the committee call the Hon.

John Manley and all members of the Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan, the ministers of National Defence, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, with the option of adding further witnesses to provide their perspectives on this report; that the joint proceedings occur during the ordinary scheduled time of this committee, on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 3:30pm and 5:30pm, commencing at the scheduled meeting immediately following the adoption of this motion and continuing until the conclusion of the meeting on February 28, 2008; that the committee table a record of the evidence; that pursuant— The Chair : It should remain as a copy of the record.

Mr. Laurie Hawn : We were advised that “record” was a better word. The Chair : The clerk has just informed me that it should refer back to “copy”. Mr. Laurie Hawn : It should still say “copy”. Okay. So it would read: that the committee table a copy of the evidence; that pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee request that the government table a comprehensive response to the report; —which I believe they are doing— and that these meetings be televised. We can deal with the motion now, with unanimous consent, or we can leave it as a notice of motion for Thursday. The Chair : Okay. Mr.

Claude Bachand (Saint-Jean, BQ) : I'd prefer 48 hours. The Chair : There's no unanimous consent. This notice of motion will be dealt with on Thursday. Mr. Bernard Patry (Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.) : The translation is not clear. The Chair : The French version is not good? Mr. Bernard Patry : They talk about un procès. Ce n'est pas un procès. I just wanted to let you know. We're not going to court. The Chair : That's a notice of motion. We'll have it properly distributed to the committee. Mr. Cannis on another issue. Mr. John Cannis (Scarborough Centre, Lib.) : It parallels this one, Mr. Chairman, as well.

There's no discussion on this one until it comes back. One comment I would have, should we pursue this, is this. Seeing that we're having two committees, I would ask you, Mr. Chair, to work with the other chair of the foreign affairs committee. I have found it very frustrating, having participated in some of these joint committees. So much time goes by—two hours or an hour and a half to two hours—and we don't have the opportunity as members to participate, to ask questions. I see my colleagues across the way nodding their heads; I think they empathize with what I'm saying. For me, Mr.

Chair, it would be a waste of time. I think we would look silly to the nation on television if each member isn't given an opportunity on this most serious subject, which has been discussed in every kitchen and every restaurant, etc. Those are my comments on that, and we'll elaborate at the next meeting. There is another thing I would like you, Mr. Chairman, to ask the clerk and your staff. We have all worked very hard for months, and we've heard from so many witnesses: academics, former military people, current military people, and different organizations.

We were compiling information on our study on our mission in Afghanistan. Correct me if I'm wrong. We did put a report together. I would like to ask, because people have been asking me, what happened to that report? What happened to those 13 or 14 recommendations? It goes hand in hand with what we have. What we're trying to do here is get the best of all the ideas so that as representatives we can do the right thing. We've always had good cooperation in this committee, from my understanding. Nothing has changed today. We might differ on some minor points.

I would ask for somebody to tell me—it's your work, my work, everybody's work—what happened to that report? What happened to those recommendations? I have all the respect for this new committee, the Manley committee, and whatever work they did, and we're going to draw comparisons at some point in time. But I owe it to my constituents, my taxpayers, as I'm sure every one of us does here, to respond to the questions they put to me. What happened to that report? Can you now compare report A and report B? What are the common denominators? What are we doing? What are they suggesting to do that we have not been doing?

The Chair : I know, Mr. Cannis, that there was a response that came forward from the government—I believe there was—on each one of those recommendations. Am I not right on that? Mr. Wolf Koerner (Committee Researcher) : Yes. The Chair : We will make sure that everybody—the present committee members—has a copy. The Clerk of the Committee (Mr. Samy Agha) : It's on the website. The Chair : We'll have a look at that. To be fair, we need to have a look at how the government has responded to those recommendations. Mr. John Cannis : We just tabled that report— The Chair : Is that the one on Afghanistan? Mr.

John Cannis : Yes, I mean our report. The Chair : We tabled it last spring, in June, so the response is available. It has been provided by the government. Whether you agree with the response would be something you would have to.... Mrs. Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, CPC) : Am I on the list? The Chair : Yes, you are. You are the only one on that list right now. Mrs. Cheryl Gallant : This is in response to Mr. Cannis' comment. John made a really valid point. We all work really hard, spend hours preparing, and then a chosen few, and sometimes even substitutes, go in and ask all the questions.

I would ask, if it's agreed that we go ahead, that we consider going to maybe four-hour meetings, and not necessarily just during our allotted time. We don't want to be here until 7:30 at night. But we could arrange it in such a way that there is some continuity. The Chair : I'd like you to bring all those ideas to the next meeting. At the next meeting we'll finish off the report, and then we'll deal with this motion. The meeting is adjourned.