Discussion · Government Orders
James Bezan Conservative
“The government has changed its defence agency three times now, but we are still not buying equipment fast enough. We are getting more red tape instead of real progress. I want to know how the minister will keep this new system open and accountable.”
“Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister for the hard work he did this weekend being out there at CFB Wainwright, being there to support the families. I appreciate that he was there to be with the troops and that he kept the Canadian public informed. I cannot express that enough. I share his sympathy and condolences to the families, and want to give our thanks and gratitude to all the first responders. There was incredible work done in fighting the fire, rescuing those who were injured and providing medical care and attention. We are, as Canadians, all grateful for the minister’s commitment to our troops. However, I have to say that on Bill C-40 we are seeing a third iteration of the Defence Investment Agency and we are still not seeing any real true procurement happening on the scale that we want. We have seen a lot of announcements. We have seen reannouncements. We have seen intentions to deal with preferred suppliers. However, they talk about building at speeds that we have not seen yet, and all we are getting is bureaucracy. What started off as the defence investment agency under PSPC then became the Defence Investment Agency as a stand-alone entity in Bill C-31, and now, in Bill C-40, the Liberals are turning it into a Crown corporation. I just want to ask the minister this: One of the concerns we have as Conservatives is around the accountability and transparency within this system. How are we going to ensure that we exercise our fiduciary responsibilities and still support the troops at the same time?”
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister for the hard work he did this weekend being out there at CFB Wainwright, being there to support the families. I appreciate that he was there to be with the troops and that he kept the Canadian public informed. I cannot express that enough. I share his sympathy and condolences to the families, and want to give our thanks and gratitude to all the first responders. There was incredible work done in fighting the fire, rescuing those who were injured and providing medical care and attention. We are, as Canadians, all grateful for the minister’s commitment to our troops. However, I have to say that on Bill C-40 we are seeing a third iteration of the Defence Investment Agency and we are still not seeing any real true procurement happening on the scale that we want. We have seen a lot of announcements. We have seen reannouncements. We have seen intentions to deal with preferred suppliers. However, they talk about building at speeds that we have not seen yet, and all we are getting is bureaucracy. What started off as the defence investment agency under PSPC then became the Defence Investment Agency as a stand-alone entity in Bill C-31, and now, in Bill C-40, the Liberals are turning it into a Crown corporation. I just want to ask the minister this: One of the concerns we have as Conservatives is around the accountability and transparency within this system. How are we going to ensure that we exercise our fiduciary responsibilities and still support the troops at the same time?