Mr. Speaker, every day firefighters put their lives on the line to ensure the safety of Canadians, yet they cannot get the support they need from their own federal government. Firefighters have been denied access to the needed funding to implement the program operation respond, which is a communications system that can quickly identify hazardous materials and provide appropriate emergency response techniques and guidance.
My question is for the Minister of Transport. Will he make available the additional research and development funding for operation respond which would properly safeguard the Canadian public, yes or no? Certainly the minister thinks that Canadians and Canadian firefighters are worth $236,000.