Mr. Speaker, it has been noted by the Minister of National Defence how short the military is on funds these days, courtesy of the Liberal government of course. It has hacked and slashed the budget rather than ensure that the military is capable of defending the country.
I noted in the paper or became aware recently that the military has signed a contract for $703 million with a moving company to move our military over the next four years from here to there and back again, around the country and so on. I recall that back in public accounts we dealt with this issue a number of years ago. At that time the military was spending $26 million a year on moving personnel around and I thought that was going to be cut back. Some $703 million over four years works out to about 2% of the military budget spent basically on nothing being accomplished other than moving people around.
Would the minister tell us why he spends this kind of money? Why did he sign that kind of contract? What benefit is there for military personnel, as he acknowledged himself how important it was for military personnel to build a stable family life as well as defend this country?