QUESTION PERIOD — National Defence
Dedication of Afghanistan War Memorial
May 27, 2019
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate and it concerns the secret ceremony to dedicate the Afghanistan Memorial Hall at DND Headquarters containing a memorial of military members and civilians who previously stood at the Kandahar Airfield. Canadians only learned of this ceremony three days after it occurred, in a Facebook post. Without a doubt it was the wrong decision to keep the ceremony quiet and wrong to exclude the families of our fellow Canadians who died in Afghanistan in service to our country.
On Friday, the chief of staff, General Vance, apologized for the insensitivity, pain, anger and frustration caused by this decision. My question for the government leader is simply this: Why did it take four days for Minister Sajjan to apologize? The Minister of National Defence attended this secret ceremony so it must have had his approval. Does the minister truly accept his responsibility for what happened here?
I thank the honourable senator for his question. I’m sure that I along with at least a number of other senators have in fact been to Kandahar to see the memorial. I think we all pay tribute to those who paid the ultimate price in Afghanistan and continue to pay in terms of the wounded from that engagement.
It’s very clear from statements that have been made outside the chamber and elsewhere that General Vance, in particular, has acknowledged that the way in which it was proceeded with was inappropriate. He’s written an extensive statement to Canadians to assure them that he intends to make right this mistake. He says:
More importantly, an apology is meaningless unless the wrong it seeks to address is mitigated, and this is how we’ll make things right:
The Afghanistan Memorial Hall will become accessible to all who come and wish to see it. All members of the Canadian Armed Forces and their families . . . While we must balance security and access, we know that we have already established a system for personal escorted access to the memorial for the families of the Fallen.
He goes on to say:
We are now coordinating their visits. Families and Veterans may also attend the Headquarters, and they will be immediately escorted for a visit.
He continues:
In the coming month, we will begin providing continuous scheduled visit-opportunities to all who wish to visit.
Clearly from the CDS we have a clear statement of correction. The Minister of Defence has indicated his agreement with the actions that the CDS have undertaken to mitigate the circumstances. I think we all want to accept those apologies and, more importantly, the mitigation that is under way.
Thank you, leader. The previous Conservative government announced that a national memorial to Canada’s mission in Afghanistan would be constructed here in Ottawa. It was to have been ready by the sesquicentennial in 2017. In March 2016, when asked in the other place about the fact that the monument had not moved forward, former Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr stated, “We will get it done.” Over three years later and in fact nothing has been done. Senator Harder, when will the construction of the monument begin and when will it be completed?
Again, I thank the honourable senator for his question. With respect to a memorial, I will take it under advisement and report back.
Honourable senators, my question for the government leader this evening also concerns the secret ceremony held earlier this month to dedicate the Afghanistan Memorial Hall. It is disappointing but not surprising that it took Minister Sajjan four days to apologize for this obvious mistake, as he has yet to formally apologize to Vice-Admiral Mark Norman for what the vice-admiral and his family went through over the last two years. Canadians have a right to know how this ceremony came about as it is clear something like this should never happen again.
Senator Harder, would you please make inquiries and let us know the details of the approval process for the secret ceremony? Specifically, at what point was the minister and his office involved in the planning for this ceremony? Also, did the minister and his office know that the families of those who died in Afghanistan had been excluded?
Again, I thank the honourable senator for her question. She’s asked me if I will make inquiries and I certainly will.
In reference to the response you gave to our leader regarding a process to allow the public access to the current memorial, I’m just a little bit — I won’t say skeptical, but I’m concerned that — I won’t name the regiment. I have great respect for our military. There was a base where I wanted to visit and have a look at this particular site. When I contacted the proper individual that was given — the name that was given to me, we were told that I would need an eight-month advance request time in order for this to be processed. That was just my one experience at this one particular site. I’m curious, in terms of this public access, what assurances do we have that it will indeed be accessible to the public? We talk about the safety and the security, but I think it’s in a very private location where I think access will be an issue. I’d be curious to know the ongoing plans and how this will be executed.
Again, I thank the honourable senator for her question. She will know from the statement that General Vance issued that he indicated that they were proactively engaging with the families, as well as a website he referenced in his statement. I want to assure the honourable senator that I will be happy to bring the concerns she has raised with experience not only with respect to this matter but others.
I take it from General Vance’s statement that there is a very sincere acknowledgement by the senior military of our country that we have to do better in respect of our fallen in Afghanistan and an appropriate memorial to commemorate their service. As his statement that I spoke to earlier references, he has personally made a commitment to do just that, not just to state the acknowledgement of the inappropriateness of the actions that were taken but also to take a number of steps to correct that. That’s what’s under way.
