Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely correct. The Minister of National Defence continually leads the Canadian public to believe that we do not have a serious problem with our defence forces and that every time a mission comes up it seems Canada is able to respond very quickly. The problem is that places tremendous stress on our troops. At this time, some 4,500 army troops are serving outside the country. That means three times that amount are needed to maintain that 4,500 figure. The reason is that 4,500 people are training to go on that mission, there are the 4,500 who are deployed on that mission already, and then recuperation time is needed, so there are another 4,500 people who have just returned from the mission and are taking time with their families and undergoing debriefing and training opportunities.
The whole concept of Canada's always being there and deploying more people with the budget constantly declining and the government foisting more missions on the armed forces is a very desperate situation that has come to a crossroads. We like to point these things out constantly to the Canadian public, but we always hear quite the opposite from the defence minister and the foreign affairs minister that everything seems to be fine. The Canadian public should realize this is a desperate situation.
The Canadian public has given its support to the Canadian armed forces in the missions we operate in around the world. It is time for the government to give the people in the Canadian armed forces the tools they need to do their job, whether it be peacekeeping or whether it be a combat role in hot spots around the world.