Madam Speaker, the question of debates to which the hon. member has referred is interesting. I recognize quite freely that there have been far more debates in the House of Commons on defence than in the previous nine years or ten years or twelve years, for that matter.
The problem with the opposition parties is that the debates are a foregone conclusion. The decisions have already been taken. Yes, we are debating so we are able to say something, but we are not impacting or affecting the decisions that are taken. I believe that is not only frustrating but it is not right.
Again I recognize that the Minister of National Defence responded quite rapidly to the receipt of the special joint committee's report. That of course implies that he had reasonably good information as to what was coming in the report. That was inevitable and it was good. He did respond quickly. As I pointed out, though, there are many recommendations made within the report which he did not see fit to include.
My problem is that I believe very many Canadians do not appreciate or conceive of the commitment that Canadian forces personnel make when they sign on the dotted line. They are the only Canadians who commit themselves to put their life on the line at order. The fireman, yes, he can get himself involved in a problem but he does it voluntarily. A policeman is the same. If he involves himself he does it because it is his job and because he personally chooses it. A serviceman does not have that choice. If his or her superior says "you go there", regardless of the situation that requires he or she to put themselves in they are required to go without question.
Because of this commitment we owe it to our servicemen to provide them with the very best possible leadership and concern. That is my concern here. The inquiry that the hon. member has referred to as broad is really constrained to talking about the airborne deployment before, during and after. It has to do with the command and control that went into that. However it does not branch into the areas that we have talked about: the overall command and control in National Defence Headquarters. Should it be civilian? Should it be separated into civilian and military? Are the young officers and young non-commissioned members being adequately trained?
We have reports from Colonel Oehring and from General Jeffries, both of whom point out that there is a shortfall in confidence in Canadian servicemen. They question whether their officers are really concerned with them or whether they are concerned with their own careers and they are looking up rather than down.
We owe it to our service people to give them the very best leadership, command and control that we can possibly provide.