Mr. Speaker, the government has a problem that it cannot avoid. The Minister of National Defence has become a lame duck minister.
The minister has committed so many mistakes, from interference in the Somalia inquiry to personal contracts for political friends, bungling the downsizing of the forces, bungling the base closures, from budget overruns to mismanagement of morale, that nothing the Somalia inquiry finds or the Prime Minister says can rehabilitate this minister.
Does the government believe that it is in the national interest to leave a lame duck minister in charge of the Canadian military?