Mr. Speaker, hundreds of Canadian forces personnel have once again answered the call, packed their bags and headed for the Persian Gulf. The brave Canadians who sign up for military service do so out of a sense of duty to their country. It is a terrible shame that our government does not have the same sense of duty in return.
On February 11 the defence minister rose to assure this House that Canadian personnel in the gulf were being inoculated forthwith against anthrax. Time was of the essence for that vaccine to work. It was only this past weekend, however, that the first sailors actually started getting inoculated against such a threat, which everyone knows exists in the region, almost too late.
Was it because the defence minister could not get organized? Or was it because he did not care? In either case, his assurances were hollow.
The defence minister should be ashamed of himself. We need to pay the highest respect to our forces. We need to give them all the protection they need to do their job.