Mr. Speaker, the operational requirements for the helicopters that will be replacing the Sea Kings have been lowered to two hours and twenty minutes with a thirty minute fuel reserve. This allows Eurocopter's Cougar to qualify for the reduced endurance capacity, a capacity that is significantly lower than the four hour flying time offered by the Sea Kings when they went into operation in 1962.
In 1996 the Liberals decreased requirements to three hours with a thirty minute reserve. In 1999 the Liberals decreased requirements to two hours and fifty minutes with a thirty minute reserve. The government now has dropped to the absolute minimum accepted by military specifications to two hours and twenty minutes and the reserve.
When will the government make decisions based on logic and reason and not based on the Prime Minister's pride?