Mr. Speaker, the quick answer is yes. The long answer is that there should be a thorough and informed debate. The defence committee should hear from witnesses across the country. Members of the military should appear. We should hear from experts on what is going on in the European Union, on NATO and on terrorism. It is not the same world that we used to live in. It is totally different. There are totally different responsibilities and totally different challenges.
The whole issue of the threat of terrorism is one we cannot begin to comprehend or know how to deal with. It has to be dealt with differently from what the military has done in the past. The issue of NATO and its responsibilities raises another group of questions. What is Canada's responsibility to the world? What is Canada's role in the short term on this planet, in the next five or 10 years? In the long term what is our responsibility?
While we are discussing those issues, we should also remember an important fact. When we look at the role played by our peacekeepers in the last 30 years and certainly since Korea, there were not just a few peacekeepers who have been killed in action. Hundreds of peacekeepers have been killed in action. We do not look at peacekeepers as being in a war zone, but they are. We have never accepted the responsibility for what we have put our peacekeepers under. We do not recognize the sacrifices they make.
We need to take another look at our defence policy. We need to analyze it, to commit real dollars to it and to understand where we are headed in the future.
What is the role of the military in domestic defence? Is there a role? Is there a role for the military when there is a flood in the Saguenay or in Winnipeg or when there is an ice storm? Sure, there is a role. Does our military do more than go to war and work as peacekeepers? Absolutely, the military does more than that.
We have to recognize the different challenges that our military faces in the 21st century. It is no longer the 20th century.