Thank you, Chair.
Minister, in your opening remarks you mentioned that caring for the women and men of the armed forces is the primary focus of our defence policy. Why then have you reversed the recommendation in the SCONDVA quality of life report that provides a tax-free posting allowance? Why have you permitted health care workers who care for our ill and injured soldiers, and many of them are married to serving soldiers or are veterans themselves, to be subjected to thousands of dollars in pay cuts as of this April 1? This includes mental health nurses who work in warrior support, and nurses tasked with safeguarding those deploying to Mali.
How are you going to find the expertise to properly innoculate the people who are going to a country that had eight Ebola cases, when you're cutting the experienced medical personnel and replacing them with people off the street?
Why do pregnant civilian military health care workers married to Canadian Armed Forces members have to go to the human rights tribunal to keep their jobs, even if they accept an across-the-board pay slash?
Also, would you provide to the committee the contracts of the male and female health workers to prove that male workers doing the exact same job as the female workers are not getting paid more than the females in that exact same position?
The Prime Minister stated that ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces members losing their special allowance pay was an unintended negative consequence. What's being done to correct these unintended consequences?
Not a single person who was involved in the consultation process for the new defence policy was in favour of a deployment to Mali. Can you tell us how this deployment to Mali is in Canada's national interest?
Thank you.