Mr. Speaker, I want to return to the question of my friend, the member for Macleod. The Minister of National Defence jumped around and would not answer the question directly. Let me give him a chance again.
The minister said that the navy was not allowed to exceed its budget, yet the cabinet was allowed to exceed its budget by precisely $100 million on new Challengers, against the advice of all government officials.
Why is the navy bound by limits when the issue is national security, while the cabinet can ignore those limits when the issue is personal luxury? How does the minister explain this disgraceful double standard?