Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for giving me an opportunity to elaborate, particularly on the issue of unfairness. There is unfairness at two levels. The first level is rather ideological in nature and has to do with culture and language. Saint-Jean was the main route for young francophones interested in becoming officers in the Canadian forces.
Closing the military college in Saint-Jean-and we have news from Kingston today-will have an impact on the number of young francophones in the Canadian forces. If I had more time, I would give you figures which show that, already, this decision has had such an impact.
But I want to go back to the financial issue raised by the hon. member. It is true that Royal Roads was also closed. But, again, there is an injustice related to the compensation given to the two military colleges. Saint-Jean, which had an annual budget of $39 million, was given $5 million for each of the next five years. Royal Roads, which had an annual budget of $19 million, was given the same compensation.
So, Royal Roads, a college half the size, with half the budget and half the number of officer cadets, gets the same compensation as Saint-Jean. Not only is it unfair to close the military college in Saint-Jean because it is the main route for francophones interested in becoming officers in the Canadian forces, but there is also an economic injustice in that the compensation of $5 million per year given by the federal government is the same for both institutions, even though one had an operating budget twice the size of the other. Saint-Jean should have received $10 million per year, considering the size of the two institutions.