Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very pertinent question. I had not finished mentioning cases of mismanagement.
If the auditor general—the report does not mention it—had taken as sizeable a sampling as in the case of Human Resources Development Canada, he might have found an equivalent amount of mismanagement in the Defence files. We do not know this, because the auditor general settled for raising the most obvious cases of waste and mismanagement. I will give a few more.
For example, in answer to the question from my colleague, in the April 1998 Auditor General's Report, it was clearly indicated that the injection of additional funds would not solve the problems of the armed forces, as long as it is not clear where it is headed.
It is all very fine to say “There are complaints from the military, so we will add one or two billion dollars”. However, if it is not clear where we are headed, it will never be known whether this additional money will solve the problem. There has to be a proper understanding of the situation, we have to be sure of the administrative methods used, we have to be sure this money has been spent before any more is injected.
Perhaps the money already allocated to the armed forces would be enough, if it were handled better. Perhaps no more investment would be necessary. This would enable us to put more money into other priorities of Canadians and Quebecers, such as combatting poverty and unemployment or helping out the provinces in the areas of health, education or welfare. This funding is not merely useful; it is necessary.