JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS, MACKAY DELIVERS LUMP OF COAL FOR GOOSE BAY

HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, December 17, 2009 — Documents tabled in Parliament, in response to an inquiry by Labrador M.P. Todd Russell, prove that the Harper Conservative promises to 5 Wing Goose Bay will never be fulfilled.

“I asked the Harper government whether its promised unmanned aerial vehical squadron and Rapid Reaction Battallion were part of the so-called ‘Canada First Defence Strategy’, if not, why not, and what steps if any have been taken to fulfill these promises. The answer on the UAV squadron was evasive at best. The answer on the battalion was categorical: there won’t be one.”

Russell placed his question on the House of Commons Order Paper on October 7^th. The Harper government’s response plainly states, in response to a question about the promised establishment of 650-member battalions at Goose Bay, Comox, Trenton, and Bagotville:

There are currently no plans to establish battalions at these locations.

In response to a related question concerning the stationing of UAVs at Goose Bay, the Harper Conservatives were evasive and non-committal, saying only:

Unmanned aerial vehicles can be a useful tool in providing accurate and timely surveillance information in support of the domestic and international roles of the Canadian Forces outlined in the Canada First Defence Strategy. National Defence is considering the acquisition of long-range unmanned aerial vehicles.

“For the first time, Stephen Harper and Peter Mackay openly admit that they will not keep their promises to Goose Bay, among others” Russell said. “Their by-election and election promises were false. By repeating them over three elections, they have been stringing the public along, in Goose Bay and indeed in other military communities across Canada.”

Meanwhile, Russell noted, Minister Mackay has announced that the fifteen new Chinook helicopters — which are promoted as being designed for operation in the North — will be stationed at CFB Petawawa in southern Ontario.

Stationing the Chinooks there will create 440 new positions.

Russell says that the Conservative admission of inaction on Goose Bay is consistent with revelations made by retired general Rick Hillier in his book “A Soldier First”, published this fall by HarperCollins.

General Hillier writes:

The [Harper Conservative] platform also called for new army reserve battalions to be created across the country… The Canadian Forces would base large numbers of soldiers to augment those already in places like Comox, B.C., or Bagotville, Quebec, or Goose Bay, Newfoundland [sic], where we had few facilities to house them, and, militarily, no need for them. If this policy had been implemented, we would have had so many people committed to bases that we would have essentially been left with none to deploy. [pages 401-402]

“It is clear that DND, right from the start, threw cold water on the political promises made by Gordon O’Connor, Peter Mackay, and Stephen Harper. Mackay, our representative in cabinet, has made promises to Labrador that he never had any intention of keeping. At least now, he and Harper are finally being honest about it.”

Russell says he will continue to push the government on the Goose Bay issue and press for long-term use of the base.

-30-

Todd Russell, MP

Labrador

(613) 996-4630