Wednesday October 13, 2004

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, who was asked a question by his former House leader about a report on the subs that existed prior to the purchase. The question was whether or not the government was aware of that report and whether or not it had presumably read it.

The parliamentary secretary remembers when he was in the opposition the frustration he experienced at not getting answers to his questions. Will he either answer the question or tell us if he was made to drink some kind of potion before becoming a Liberal which certainly disabled him from recognizing a question and knowing how to answer it?

Hon. Keith Martin (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, if there was a potion, I would be happy to share it with the hon. member.

The real issue with the subs and what everybody in the House wants is to get to the bottom of the tragedy of what happened on the Chicoutimi. We are letting the navy do its job. The board of inquiry is doing its job right now. It is in Faslane. It is going through the Chicoutimi from top to bottom and will come out with the answers in the very near future.