Mr. Bachand, theoretically, foreign and defence policies are interconnected, but in a linear way. I don't really believe that. Most of the time, countries respond to crises and to emergencies. Since the start of the 20th century in particular, Canada has sent troops into battle when the need arose. That's what Canada does. Initially, when our military members were deployed to Kabul, they did not have the proper uniforms or armoured vehicles. We did not have aircraft or tanks. Our forces were equipped on the fly. That's what happens more often than not. Countries do their best and mobilize on the fly.
Very rarely does a country return after a war has ended as the victor, with its head held high, with a clear sense of the lessons to be drawn from the conflict or with a relatively clear picture of the future. We know that the future will be equally dangerous. Afghanistan merely gave us a glimpse of what the future holds in store. Canada not only has an opportunity, but a duty, to prepare for the future, not just for the next Afghanistan, but perhaps even for the next 100 years, by increasing the size of its military, by structuring its forces and by equipping them. It may well take a year, two years or three years to get there. It has nothing to do with partisanship. Our common interest is our national security and we need the very best forces we can have. We already know that we are going to have some problems maintaining our current levels, because the recruitment process is difficult. There is much competition, either from the business world or from elsewhere. There are limits on what we will be able to buy in terms of equipment, because equipment is very expensive. It is no secret that our ships need to be replaced, as do our fighter aircraft. We need to pause and consider the situation before starting over again. This won't happen overnight, because we must constantly be on the alert. If an emergency is declared, or if some catastrophic event occurs, our forces will be deployed immediately with whatever resources are available. We need to take a bit of a break right now before sending our forces abroad on a new mission.
We need to pause and examine what you've talked about, namely the issue of equipment acquisitions, the structure of our forces, recruitment, training and the focus of our military. At this point in time, our army is a combat army, but that's not the case with our other components. All of these issues need to be reviewed and I sincerely believe, as someone who believes in democracy, that this committee is the forum in which political, diplomatic, military and other interests should first be debated.