House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2008, with 58% of the vote.
Veterans Affairs November 9th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, on that issue, the member is wrong in terms of his presentation. We will honour our commitments. We will do it in a comprehensive fashion, not only for widows, not only for veterans, but for their families and for new members of the Canadian Forces as well.
We will honour our commitments. It will be for all veterans and all families, not just a selected group.
Veterans Affairs November 9th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, just for the record, we are spending $352 million more on veterans and their families than the previous government did last year alone.
In addition to that, we approved ex gratia payments for widows who were left outside of policies that the Liberals should have implemented. We did that almost immediately upon forming government. They forget about that.
In addition to that, I initiated a health care review. We will act on that review to extend payments and benefits to all veterans.
Veterans Affairs November 9th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I think we have a pretty good record of dealing with veterans issues on this side of the House in the time that we have been in office. I would run through some of the things we have done. We made a commitment on this and we will honour that commitment.
I would examine the fact that those people were in a complete state of denial on this issue for all the years they were in office. Again, I cannot believe the member would get up in such a hypocritical fashion on an issue that we will have a resolution to.
Veterans Affairs November 9th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I can hardly believe that question is coming from a member of a party that sat on this issue for decades and never attempted to resolve it.
We are working on a solution and we will have a solution. I have the support of the Prime Minister, my cabinet colleagues and, most of all, my caucus members. We are working on a solution and we will have one.
The member should examine the record of the Liberal Party on this issue. He should go back and do his research.
Veterans Affairs November 3rd, 2006
Mr. Speaker, there is much that I agree with in the member's preamble in terms of the dedication of our aboriginal veterans and their commitment to Canada, but I want to remind him that he is a member of a party and a government that was in power for 13 years and ignored aboriginal veterans, ignored all veterans and ignored our defence spending and our men and women in uniform. That is the Liberals' sad record after 13 years.
We are not going to do that. We are going to work on every one of these issues, issue by issue. We are going to work through them. We are going to be there to support those aboriginal--
Veterans Affairs November 3rd, 2006
Mr. Speaker, this year our government is spending $352 million more than the previous government on all veterans, including aboriginal veterans.
We will continue to talk to veterans groups, including aboriginal veterans, which I have done. We are committed to making the lives of all veterans better, and they can count on the government continuing to do that.
Veterans Week November 2nd, 2006
Mr. Speaker, a number of weeks ago the Prime Minister said that military service was the highest form of public service. We are reminded of that in the House every day. It is because our veterans have served that we can serve here in this chamber. Our veterans are why we have a free and democratic country. It is that simple.
We are the direct beneficiaries of their great sacrifices and achievements, and it is why I feel honoured and humbled to rise in the House on the eve of Veterans Week.
Our men and women in uniform forged this nation's identity on the distant battlefields of the past century. In the two Great Wars, in the Korean War, in military operations and on peacekeeping missions around the world, our soldiers have made Canada proud. They have made us proud.
No one in the House needs to be convinced about the honour and accomplishments of our veterans and their modern-day colleagues. When we look around the House, we see the poppies proudly on display. Our veterans unite us as few things can.
Regardless of our political stripes or where we come from, I believe we all agree that our men and women in uniform are the best in the world. They are the best trained, the most professional and the most disciplined, and they have always committed themselves 100% to the mission.
However, we know that our freedom is not free. It has never been free. The freedoms that we often take for granted have come with a heavy price for our country, for our families and for all of us here.
We have lost too many of our best young men and women.
As our most famous war poet, John McCrae, wrote, with every fallen soldier we have lost a Canadian who “loved and was loved”. We know this and we feel it deeply in our hearts and in our souls.
We realize that this great country we have inherited was built by ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things. They did it for their country, they did it for each other and they did it for you and me, Mr. Speaker, and, of course, more than anything, they did it at great sacrifice to themselves.
We understand this. We understand that our veterans willingly stood in the face of oppression and tyranny to protect the values that all Canadians still cherish: freedom, democracy and the rule of law. That is what we must never forget and we must remain committed to sharing this legacy with future generations.
It is this torch of remembrance that we raise so proudly each Veterans Week. This year the theme could not be more fitting, “Share the Story”. Not only are we encouraging our veterans to share their stories, we are urging Canadians in every region of this country to take the time to listen.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, there are many stories to be told and there are many more that have gone untold, one for each of our honoured veterans.
I would like to share with the House one of those untold stories. This past summer, while standing on the shores of Normandy with my eldest son, he began telling me about his grandfather's experience, my father-in-law's experience, on D-Day during that landing 50 years ago. I stood there fascinated as I listened to my son. I was curious about the details, about the painful, brutal facts that my father-in-law had rarely shared with anyone.
I asked my son why he thought granddad had not told me any of this story and he simply replied that it was because I had not asked. I know that it is now time to ask, to listen and to learn about soldiers like Harold Roderick.
Those of us who have never served, who have never worn the Canadian uniform, need to take the time to understand before “time slips away”. We only need to look outside at the last few autumn leaves clinging to their branches. With the slightest rustle of a breeze, they could be gone by dusk. We realize this. We realize that there are only three known surviving Canadian veterans left from the first world war. We need to learn more about their stories, the stories of these remarkable men, all of them now well past 100 years of age. I have had the privilege to meet them and they are as dedicated to Canada today as they were when they wore the uniform. They are also our last living links to our greatest generation. We cannot allow their stories to be lost in history or to go untold. Otherwise, we can only guess at what our veterans have endured for us and what they have achieved for all of us.
We can only wonder at the emotions captured in those grainy old films and black and white pictures, in those scenes of Canadian soldiers marching down our main streets or waving goodbye from ships pulling out to sea. We have seen the photographs of soldiers in the departing troop trains. Their faces, through the train windows, are a mixture of sadness and excitement. Their arms are reaching out for one last touch of a loved one. Sadly, for many, it would be the final touch. Those images, their lives, still touch us today
We cannot bear witness to any of these individual stories without asking ourselves if we would have responded the way our veterans did. If we had walked in their shoes, would we have had their courage? Where did they find the strength to leave behind their loved ones and their own dreams and walk straight into harm's way?
As we seek the answers to these difficult questions, we must also pause to think about our men and women in uniform today; brave Canadians still serving around the world in such troubled spots as Afghanistan. They, as those who came before them, know the threats we face today. They know they are real and they know the cause is just.
As in those decades gone by, our men and women in uniform should know that they have earned the thanks and the praise of a grateful nation, today and forever.
In a few days we will leave this place and return to our ridings, to the people we represent. There we will gather in our largest cities and smallest villages, side by side, to lay wreaths and to remember. In those moments of deep silence, we will renew our pledge to honour, always, the men and women who have given us so much and who have given us their very best.
Lest we forget.
Veterans Affairs October 31st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, first I want to thank the member for his personal efforts in the support of veterans, but I caution him not to confuse our position with the position that his party and his government took for 13 years and beyond which was simply to deny until they die.
We are going to deliver on our commitment, as we always do. We have a track record of delivering on our commitments. We cannot say the same thing for that party and that former government.
Immigration October 31st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 2006 annual report on immigration.
Veterans Affairs June 21st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, the first thing we want to clarify is that the letter was not written by the Prime Minister.
In terms of the Department of Veterans Affairs, we will be spending an additional $350 million this year alone, which is $350 million more than the previous government.
One of the first things I did as minister was to initiate a health care review. The information from that health care review will be the knowledge base that we will use as we move forward to continue to improve services for veterans and their families, and that includes widows.