Mr. Speaker, I have a comment and a question. My riding was one of the ridings affected by the ice storm. I will take every opportunity I can to put on the record that the minister spoke about what the military did and the reservists too. I am glad that point was made by the hon. member opposite. He was characteristically humble as were most of the military people I encountered through that.
The military saved lives in my riding. I will say that time and time again. I was very proud of the Canadian military which brings me to my question. What problem are we trying to solve here? I have listened quite intently to this debate. The members on the defence committee are guilty of engaging in acronyms that I do not understand which leads me to my concern.
Reform is very good at these rather simplistic solutions. Have an independent counsel. It will take care of itself. Let us think of what the Americans did during the Watergate crisis. Independent counsel. Now we have Kenneth Star and the executive branch of the U.S. government embroiled in some kind of three ring circus. If this is some way of cutting through red tape, if this is an elimination of bureaucracy, I do not know where that is headed.
If the Reform Party wants to do something constructive, let us bring some balance to the debate. This issue is not as simplistic as Reformers would have us believe. There are different ways of accomplishing the same goal.
The member has a base in his riding. Does the member think it brings anything to the picnic in terms of morale and recognizing the good works of the Canadian military to constantly dredge up and dwell on the small minority of negative comments?
I will end by quoting a commander who left eastern Ontario after the ice storm to cheering crowds. He said: “This is the 99% of the military you haven't heard about in —”