Mr. Speaker, Canadians are shocked at the brutal rape and sexual assault of women in the Canadian Armed Forces and are more shocked by the callousness of the Minister of National Defence and the defence critic of the Reform Party.
The Minister of National Defence has publicly characterized these incidents as poor behaviour. As usual, the Reform Party is not happy just to deny or ignore the problem. It actually wants to turn the clock back. The Reform Party's defence critic has said the full integration of women in the military has been a disastrous social experiment, women should not be hired to do some jobs.
How can we expect the military to change when the minister considers rape poor behaviour and the Reform Party thinks women have no role outside the kitchen?
We must be tough on sexual assault and tough on the causes of sexual assault in the military and in society at large. The Reform Party's defence critic and the minister need to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.