Mr. Speaker, there is no question about the job the Canadian forces are doing. They are doing super work. But I have letters in my office from people in Edmonton who say: "I won't wear my hat to work because I don't want to be seen as a person in military uniform".
Deputy Minister Fowler visited Somalia between February 5 and 9, 1993 and Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Anderson was in Somalia on March 6, just two days after two Somalis were shot. Yet the muzzling of the inquiry precludes either Fowler or Anderson appearing. The commission says they simply do not have enough time.
If the minister really cares about the welfare of the Canadian forces, how can he leave this aberrant episode in Canadian military history unresolved?