August 18, 2008
Saint-Hubert, Quebec
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St. Hubert, Québec
Minister Paradis [Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada and Secretary of State for A Agriculture],
BGen Cloutier [Special Advisor to CAS],
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Introduction
I'm happy to be here with Minister Paradis to announce another important step by the Conserva tive Government to strengthen our Canadian Forces and Canadian sovereignty.
With 13 years of Liberal neglect, our Canadian Forces have been in the unfortunate position of not having any other option than hitching rides with allies in order to mov e personnel in countries like Afghanistan. Those days are over.
Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper's leadership, our Government is determined to give our military the tools they need to do the important work we ask of them.
All of you here, indeed all Canadians, know of the important work our Canadian Forces and civilian personnel are doing here at home and around the world, and why they are doing it.
Today, we are announcing our plan to meet the equipment needs of our tro ops not only for the mission in Afghanistan; but we are announcing additional means to protect our nation.
I'm speaking, of course, of medium-lift helicopters and high performance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAVs.
This equipment wil l improve the safety and effectiveness of our troops.
These helicopters will mean less use of convoys to move and to resupply our troops over dangerous terrain…
…and that better protects our soldiers against IED attacks.
As do UAVs, which operate as an eye in the sky for military commanders...
…collecting the kind of intelligence that is essential in modern operations.
[In short, the Government is ensuring our troops are properly equipped to car ry the tasks asked of them.
We're getting them the tools necessary for our Forces' own protection and the protection of Canadian civilians and others who work with them…]
[Our Forces are in Afghanistan as part of a UN- mandated, NATO-led mission, at the request of that country's democratically elected government, to help the Afghan people rebuild their nation as a stable, democratic, self-sufficient society.
And you know that Canada's participation i n Afghanistan was extended until 2011 through a parliamentary motion with bi-partisan support.
That motion had some conditions attached to it, conditions that were based on the thoughtful recommendations of the Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan.]
With the actions we are announcing here today, the Government has taken an important step in meeting the conditions set out in the parliamentary motion that extended Canada's participation in the Afghanistan miss ion.
But we are doing more than just that.
We are providing our forces with the equipment needed to ensure that Canadian interests can be pursued – be they in Afghanistan or in the Arctic.
In short, we are helping to build the Forces after what officials have called a decade of darkness under the previous government.
Helicopters
We have arrived at a three-step solution to acquire the helicopters we need.
First, in the short-term, Can ada will charter up to six commercial helicopters to address our immediate operational requirements in Afghanistan and the recommendations of the Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan.
We expect them to be available later this summer.
And, by purchasing an additional six used Chinook helicopters from the U.S. Government, we will have in place our own medium-lift military capabilities on current operations by early 2009.
This is a transformative development in the way in which Canada moves its personnel.
But the procurement of these helicopters goes beyond Afghanistan. This government has looked further into the future to assess the Canadian Forces needs past 2011.
As a result, we will ac quire new Chinook helicopters that will begin operations in 2013 and meet our military's long-term medium- to heavy-lift needs. These new F-model Chinooks will be specifically tailored to support the Canadian Forces at home and abroad, whatev er the challenges they face next.
The effect of this is that Canada will be able to better assert its sovereignty and continue to be a player on the world stage.
UAVs
Like our helicopters, we are also using a three -part approach to secure high-performance UAVs.
The first step, a nine-month contract for small UAVs and associated support services in Kandahar, will meet the immediate needs of our Forces.
The second stage of the approach will follow tha t arrangement with a lease for a tactical UAV. Details of that lease are being worked on to provide two years of tactical UAV capability, with an option of another year.
We expect the leased tactical UAV to be operational by early 2009.
I'm happy to note that those two solutions alone will address the requirements of the Parliamentary motion to extend the Afghanistan mission.
As part of a third step, we will secure long-term UAV capabilities – we have already sta rted a process towards that goal.
Conclusion
Ladies and gentlemen…
This procurement is part of the Government's Canada First Defence Strategy to rebuild the Canadian Forces into a first-class, modern mi litary. It's part of what's necessary for our Forces to meet the complex security challenges of the 21st century, to assert our sovereignty over Canadian jurisdiction and to be a productive international partner overseas.
As Minister of Defence, I know that thousands of Canadians have stepped up when the world called for help.
Canadians served with distinction, honour and bravery in the First and Second World Wars.
We fought tirelessly in Korea where more than 500 Ca nadians died in a United Nations mission which ended 55 years ago, this year.
…and today we are again contributing to another UN-mandated mission that ensures the safety and security of Canadians and protects Canada's interests and va lues.
After some dark years where past governments starved the Canadian Forces of their needs, I am happy to announce that Canada is Back!
I'm proud to be making this announcement in support of our troops and in support of a mission that, once again, challenges those who would deny us our right to freedom, democracy and respect for human rights and the rule of law.
This government is supporting our troops in every way that is appropriate, including – as this announcemen t today shows – by acquiring the equipment needed.
Thank you.
