Commons defence committee to probe submarine purchase from Britain

Canadian Press via Sun Media ^ | 2004-10-18 | Stephen Thorne

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OTTAWA (CP) - The Commons defence committee has unanimously approved a motion to investigate the deal to buy four used submarines from Britain.

Committee members said Monday political events preceding a fire at sea this month aboard HMCS Chicoutimi need to be examined beyond a technical military inquiry.

"The (military) board of inquiry's terms of reference do not include some of the things that I believe Canadians want some answers on," said Bill Blaikie, the New Democrat who proposed the all-party investigation.

The Commons inquiry will study the procurement process and "what the government may have known or should have known" about the four diesel electric submarines it leased to buy from the British navy, said Blaikie.

The probe should also look into what precautions and procedures it put in place in response to what it did know about the troubled boats, which have been plagued by rust, cracks and leaks ever since they were leased to purchase from Britain for $812 million over eight years.

"This is relevant to the ongoing debate now between Canada and the UK about who might ultimately be held responsible."

One sailor died and several others suffered smoke inhalation after fire raged through Chicoutimi shortly after it began its first transatlantic voyage under Canadian command.

A member of Britain's House of Lords has hinted that the government could consider charging Canada for the salvage operation.

"Canada will not be charged for any efforts to prevent loss of life," Baroness Christine Crawley said on the weekend.

"But it is far too early to say what additional recovery costs there will be and where those costs will fall."

A British defence spokesman said the decision to charge Canada rests with the military, but added that it was " far too early in the day to go and consider it."

Conservative defence critic Gordon O'Connor, a retired general, said payment for rescue efforts is not unusual but it is discretionary.

"I guess the analogy is that if you lease a car and it breaks down on the road somewhere, you've got to pay for the tow truck," said O'Connor.

Canada's military is conducting its own investigations into what caused the fire and how it was handled.

The military board has begun hearings in Scotland and is expected to continue there for at least two more weeks, taking testimony from Canadian sailors, British Royal Navy officers and possibly Irish doctors before moving to Halifax for more hearings.

Bloc Quebecois MP Claude Bachand said he supported Blaikie's motion to examine the procurement process because it's important for Canadians to have "a political look" at the procurement process.

Bachand said the government's responses to issues confronting it since the fire raise broader issues such as accountability and the minister's relationship with the navy.

Why did Canada buy submarines that cannot go under the polar ice cap and assert Canada's sovereignty in the north, Bachand asked.

"There are a number of questions that may remain unanswered if this committee doesn't undertake the study itself," he said.

O'Connor said the purchase process will have taken 10 years by the time it is completed - "extraordinary," he said.

Alain Pellerin, head of the Conference of Defence Associations, attended Monday's committee meeting.

He said the probe was a wise move and could very well go beyond the submarine purchase itself into areas like Arctic sovereignty and overall military capabilities.

"This is a stepping stone to the broader issue," he said.

The committee's Liberal chairman, Pat O'Brien, said the probe could begin with Defence Minister Bill Graham and may well travel to Halifax to have a look at the subs themselves.

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[cynicom]

Those Ugly Americans are to blame somehow.