Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his presentation. I understand his first point about the base closures. I realize that base closures have affected many ridings and cross party lines. Some of the Bloc members have had ridings affected. I know many of the Liberals have had closures in their ridings as well.
With the closure of CFB Chilliwack there will no longer be an army base in all of British Columbia. There are 12 bases in Canada. There is not even one in B.C. To me that is a concern. Emergency preparedness is a concern. Even more so, it is a concern that there be a national armed forces presence.
I am concerned that people from B.C. get an opportunity to be trained in Quebec, as I am that Quebecers get an opportunity to be trained in B.C. It is just a matter of equity. I realize I am not singled out in one sense, and yet on the other hand it is a mistake in the long term not to have a land forces presence anywhere in British Columbia. It is short sighted. I realize I share that hurt
with many members on both sides of the House, but it is short sighted.
The member talks about the cuts we want to make regardless of the human side. Reformers have consistently said it is because of the human cost that we have advocated change. It is no fun to be the guy who says we have to make severe cuts and we even have to readjust our expectations in the pension plan. What fun is there in that? The reality is I want to preserve the core of that for people who need it.
By preserving it now in a relatively short order, we can preserve the parts that make Canada great. It is because of the human side. The last point about the Bretton Woods institution, I have a private member's bill on the Order Paper about the accountability of international financial institutions-