SoVote

Mr. Bryan May (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, Lib.)

Apr/28/22 6:35:13 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, COVID-19 has affected every part of our society and every Canadian, including members of our Canadian Armed Forces. I would like to clarify that, in fact, COVID-19 did not stop CBRN training for new recruits, as the member has incorrectly alleged. Although some of our training and recruiting had to be scaled down during the earliest days of the pandemic, our military was not stood down. To say so is completely inaccurate and, frankly, disrespectful to the Canadian Armed Forces members who have worked tirelessly to help Canadians through this pandemic. We will never compromise on readiness, and our priority is maintaining a fighting force that can be deployed anywhere in the world. Russia's egregious invasion of Ukraine has not only resulted in instability across the globe, but shown that we must never step back from that responsibility. Today, our organization is in the midst of a substantial forces-wide reconstitution program to rebuild our strength and readiness for the future. This includes making sure our members receive the right training so they can effectively and safely perform their required duties. I would like to thank the member opposite for highlighting the importance of the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear course. Canadian Forces leadership and recruit schools have continued to provide this course given that all CAF members require CBRN training to qualify for deployment. As part of basic military qualification and basic military officer qualification, CAF members also learn to operate in a contaminated environment. National Defence maintains and manages a robust inventory of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear protection equipment to ensure that Canadian Armed Forces members can safely conduct operations in the most adverse conditions. On operations, Canadian Armed Forces members are issued protection equipment directly, including CBRN equipment, or the equipment is transported and stored on location for use, if needed. As part of pre-deployment processes, equipment is verified for proper functionality. Canadian Armed Forces members also receive training to ensure they know how to use such equipment. To ensure the readiness of our Canadian Armed Forces, we are also improving and modernizing our operational capabilities in the face of a rapidly evolving security environment. We are moving forward on important projects for the navy, army and air force, including our Arctic offshore patrol ships, new armoured combat support vehicles for the Canadian Army and our planned fleet of 88 advanced fighter jets. We are ensuring the CAF is ready to meet adversities in non-traditional domains like cyber, space and information, including by integrating our activity in those domains with what we are already doing at sea, on land and in the air. Through our reconstitution efforts and the work we are doing to deliver on key capital projects, we are making sure that our people are well equipped and well supported for whatever comes their way. This will ensure they are ready to meet traditional and non-traditional defence and security threats to Canada and our allies from across all domains and from all directions, now and for decades to come.

513 words

Mrs. Cheryl Gallant

Apr/28/22 6:38:59 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, NATO’s combined joint CBRN defence task force consists of the CBRN defence battalion and the CBRN joint assessment team. The task force was activated for the very first time in a deterrence and defence capacity in March 2022 in response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and its dangerous rhetoric around nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. When facing a new threat, be it chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear, there is a call for safety: Protect our men and women at the highest level using all precautions. Scale the protection up. Despite repeated warnings from our allies, as recently as last month, the threat to our soldiers is being downplayed or ignored. The threat of an escalation in hostilities to use these weapons is very real. Canada needs to be procuring, maintaining, enhancing and developing effective soldier protection systems now.

145 words

Mr. Bryan May

Apr/28/22 6:39:55 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, while COVID-19 has impacted some CAF training and recruitment efforts, we have never wavered in in our commitment to operational readiness. We know we must redouble our efforts to ensure that we have a sufficient number of CAF members available for domestic and international missions and that they have the tools and training they need to excel no matter where the task. To address these issues, the chief of the defence staff has launched a forces-wide reconstitution program that is complementary to our efforts to deliver on the promises we put forward in Canada's defence policy. As we conduct a review of this policy to account for the changing global security environment, we will keep working together to build a Canadian Armed Forces that is ready to tackle our biggest threats today and into the future.

141 words

Mr. Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, NDP)

Apr/28/22 6:40:52 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise, as the New Democratic critic for public safety, to follow up on a question I asked the minister on December 10 of last year. That question was following an important report that was tabled in the 43rd Parliament on systemic racism in policing in Canada. I gave a very clear question to the minister at that time, when I asked him directly if he and his department would “implement the recommendations so that the RCMP could better serve all of our communities.” His answer was that he was “going to continue to work with the RCMP to ensure that they provide top, world-class law enforcement right across the country so that we can have public safety for all Canadians.” Unfortunately, that is a little light on details, and I sincerely hope that the parliamentary secretary tonight can provide some clarification and more detail on exactly what the government is hoping to do. Before I get into the details, I think it is important to really provide a basis for why this report and its recommendations were so important, and I am going to quote from the report: Given the pervasive nature of systemic racism in policing in Canada, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security...has concluded that a transformative national effort is required to ensure that all Indigenous, Black and other racialized people in Canada are not subject to the discrimination and injustice that is inherent in the system as it exists today. During the study, the committee acknowledged from witnesses, and they had a very broad cross-section of witnesses, a resounding acknowledgement of the reality of systemic racism in policing in Canada. The committee was told that accountability, oversight and transparency are critical to restoring trust with indigenous and racialized communities that are subject to systemic racism. When we are talking about systemic racism, the committee provided a helpful quote from Senator Murray Sinclair. He said: Systemic racism is when the system itself is based upon and founded upon racist beliefs and philosophies and thinking and has put in place policies and practices that literally force even the non-racists to act in a racist way. I want to say this, because my communities in Cowichan—Malahat—Langford are entirely policed by the RCMP, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what those frontline officers do in our communities. They are often the first on the scene and they are dealing with the opioid crisis, but we cannot step away from the fact that the RCMP itself, as a force and as a wider entity across Canada, is in need of reform. I want to hear from the parliamentary secretary, because she was a member of the committee that produced that report, so she is very familiar with the witness testimony and the deliberations the committee went through. There are very specific recommendations in that report that could be instituted through legislative reform of the RCMP Act. For example, there is recommendation 1, which really tackles the mandate, independence and efficacy of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission. This recommends making sure it has the ability to refer cases or recommend that criminal charges be laid, creating statutory timelines for responses from the RCMP, requiring the RCMP commissioner to annually report to the minister on steps taken to implement CRCC recommendations, and tabling that report to Parliament. In closing, the recommendations 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 are all there for the government to follow up on, and I would like to have a clear answer from the parliamentary secretary on when her government is going to implement those recommendations.

625 words

Ms. Pam Damoff (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety, Lib.)

Apr/28/22 6:45:02 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for this important question and for his continued excellent work on the public safety committee. As he mentioned, I have served as a member of the committee since being elected to this place, and I am incredibly proud of the work our committee achieved in the last Parliament through our report on systemic racism in policing. I would be remiss if I did not also thank the hon. member for bringing a motion to the committee that received unanimous support, for the chair to retable that report. The work done in the previous Parliament was important. The committee made 42 recommendations, and it is essential that the government provide a fulsome response to that report. I look forward to that response being tabled in this place soon. Tonight I am pleased to speak to the steps the government has already taken to begin to address systemic racism and increase accountability in policing. Police services in Canada are entrusted with a broad mandate and significant powers to enforce the law, keep the peace and maintain public safety. Maintaining the trust of the public through accountable, transparent policing is crucial to effective policing. Incidents of excessive use of force by law enforcement in Canada and the United States against indigenous, Black and racialized people prompted demands for change in 2020. We know that systemic change is needed. That is why concrete action has been taken to modernize the RCMP, transform its culture and identify and eliminate systemic barriers and systemic racism. In budget 2021, the government allocated $75 million over five years and $13.5 million ongoing to support the RCMP to take action to combat systemic racism, including through reforming recruitment and training, improving the collection, analysis and recording of race-based data, more rapidly evaluating the impact of police activities on marginalized communities and improving community engagement and consultation with Black, indigenous and racialized communities. The RCMP is also piloting the use of implicit bias testing as part of the recruitment process. Following the launch of the equity, diversity and exclusion strategy in January 2021 and the application of a GBA+ review, new and modernized entrance exams assessing applicants' cognitive and personality attributes were added and will roll out in the coming months. Additional reforms are needed, including external reviews of the RCMP's sanctions and disciplinary regime and modernizing de-escalation training to include training on implicit bias, specialized training for experienced officers, updated training for cadets, and mandatory training on cultural awareness and humility and anti-racism. In addition, through the launch of the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution, we have committed to greater externalization to ensure that there can be no conflicts of interest while reviewing complaints against RCMP members. In addition to internal reforms, independent civilian review bodies like the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission are key to keeping the RCMP accountable to the public they serve. That is why the Minister of Public Safety has been mandated by the Prime Minister to bring forward legislation that establishes defined timelines for the RCMP to respond to recommendations made by the CRCC. Additionally, in support of greater police accountability, we are committed to enhancing the management advisory board to be in line with other Canadian police services. These are some of the important measures we are taking to address systemic racism, and I look forward to working with the hon. member on this critical issue to ensure that all 42 recommendations are implemented.

590 words

Mr. Alistair MacGregor

Apr/28/22 6:48:57 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I, like the parliamentary secretary, look forward to seeing the government's responses to all of those recommendations tabled in the near future. One of the main things we can do here in the Parliament of Canada, as a legislative body, is that we can tackle reforms to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act. I have asked the Library of Parliament to take the specific recommendations that were in that report, the ones that deal with reforming the RCMP act. I have asked the Library of Parliament to show me what those reforms and amendments would look like. The only question is whether it is going to be up to me as a private member to introduce that as a private member's bill. Can I ask the government to take the lead on this and actually introduce a government bill to take the reforms that are necessary on that act?

153 words

Ms. Pam Damoff

Apr/28/22 6:49:55 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I would just say to the hon. member that I appreciate his doing that and reaching out to the Library of Parliament, and I hope that he will share that report with me and that we can work together to ensure that the RCMP act reflects the recommendations from our report. We are bringing forward clear timelines for compliance with the recommendations made regarding the CRCC. Those were very important recommendations and ones that will provide oversight for the RCMP, as well as consequences, which is something we had heard was lacking. We will continue to work collaboratively with partners, including the hon. member.

106 words

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Apr/28/22 6:50:48 p.m.
Watch

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1). (The House adjourned at 6:51 p.m.)

38 words

SoVote

House Hansard - 60