Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. He certainly came to this debate well informed with statistics. They say that if you are well prepared, you shall not fear. If that is how we can view our military, as well prepared and well armed, then Canada need not fear.
To address the crux of my hon. colleague's question, our military is overweight at the top end. There are a lot of unaccountable people shuffling papers, playing golf, looking at one another and wondering what the poor people are doing. We should closely look at our military to determine whether or not there is a proper balance in terms of funding and leadership.
Leadership is so important at the grassroots level. It determines the morale of the members, the direction we will take and the execution of plans. It is very important. There is no question that there are more generals in the army today than we had during the second world war in the Canadian military. Is that needed? Is that wise? How did it get there and why? The big question is, is that what we want? Is that the role we want? Or do we want the kind of military that is top heavy with leaders, certainly generals?
We have to look at those questions. This is a good opportunity for my hon. colleague and the rest of us in the House to debate this issue and ask the government, which is in control and has the power to do these things, whether or not it has any answers to these questions. Now is the time. Today is the day these questions can be answered by the government.