Mr. Speaker, plans for a review of Canada's defence policy are long overdue. It has been nearly a decade since the last white paper and our Canadian forces are in crisis. It is alarming that whatever is being done is occurring in secret despite the defence minister's promise that MPs, senators and ordinary Canadians would be involved. Even the House of Commons defence committee has no indication of what its involvement will be. This is completely unacceptable.
We do not need another unaccountable review process run by the Prime Minister's Office which reaches conclusions that are predetermined. That is not what we need. I call on the government to fully engage parliament and produce a full white paper by the spring of 2003. This white paper must include a specific commitment of money to carry out the plan, starting with an immediate $2 billion added to the defence budget.
The defence minister promised a new defence review. Canadians expect a new defence policy and they expect to be involved in the process.