Madam Speaker, I listened with great interest to the member opposite and was astounded by some of the comments he made with respect to the military and some of the jingoistic statements he made.
I want to remind the hon. member that the government has moved on a number of fronts with respect to our military, certainly on issues relating to housing, across the board pay increases and capital equipment acquisition. We are in fact positioned in a way that will meet not only our obligations here in Canada but around the world.
It recently came to my attention that the defence committee is working very well in trying to address some of the issues raised and the problems that are identified in a very collegial fashion.
I was somewhat amazed when one of the members from the Reform Party, the member for Lakeland, was chided for trying to turn the committee into a political side show. Talk about turning people against people and region against region. I guess the Reform Party is obviously very good at that in all cases and in all ways.
My question to the hon. member is: Why does the Reform Party, in its usual extreme manner, always insist on trying to turn the military into a political football? Maybe the Reform member could answer that for me.