Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I was present at the meeting during which this motion was moved and a request was made to shed light on the matter of the National Monument to Canada's Mission in Afghanistan. Since then, for months and months, we've been using veterans.
As a veteran myself, I see that veterans are always used to justify that we want to move things forward in their favour.
Right now, however, we're doing a disservice to the memory of veterans. Based on the way things are going, it's clear that this file has been the subject of political interference, otherwise there wouldn't have been so much obstruction by the Liberals from the start.
About two weeks ago, I was surprised to hear the Minister of Veterans Affairs was willing to provide information. Why then, as my colleague said, is Mr. Casey now trying to have us adopt an amendment that seeks to add timelines, when they're saying that the matter should be settled in court?
So is there political interference? Has there been any criminal action or action against the Labour Code, or anything else? Has any action been taken that has created such a serious problem that the government is doing everything it can to withdraw from the file?
Right now, the excuse is that things are urgent. Yet veterans can wait. The monument will be erected in memory of the mission in Afghanistan.
In my opinion, there are games and political decisions behind erecting this monument. What kind of attachment will veterans have to their monument if it's erected not as a memory of a mission, but as a result of purely political decisions made by the Liberal government?
The government was unable to provide any explanation other than the bogus survey of veterans, when it's been shown that it was nonsense. We know that a political decision is involved, but we've never been able to find out why.
As my colleague Mr. Richards told you, the basic motion is simple. That's why it's important for the Minister of Veterans Affairs to agree to co‑operate. All that is needed is for the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Privy Council Office and the Prime Minister's Office to do the same so that we can get to the bottom of this.
If there's nothing to hide, it'll be simple, and we can move on. However, we now seem to be seeing that there is something to hide. That's why we're continuing to exert pressure with our colleagues from the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, who seem to agree with our approach.
As a veteran myself, it's mainly using veterans as an excuse that I don't accept.
Thank you.