Mr. Speaker, the defence minister says that pilots who are not comfortable flying Labradors have been told they do not have to. But retired Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Hopping, a former Labrador pilot and CFB Greenwood base commander, said “It is very difficult as a member of an air crew team to say no, I won't launch an operational mission to save someone's life. What a terrible position to put a professional pilot in”.
How can the minister put these pilots in that position? If one of them gets hurt flying the aging Labradors before the final report comes in as to what happened with that Labrador crash in Quebec, will he accept full responsibility for it?