Madam Chairman, I stand corrected but I did want to compliment them anyway for their silent and dutiful work to House and to the minister.
I want to ask questions regarding the Sea King helicopters, the maritime helicopters, and the concerns that many Canadians have. These concerns have been longstanding for a number of Canadians and for a number of years.
I want to read a quote from Hansard. This is from April 12, 1999. This is a direct quote:
We have here in front of us the Liberal government that cancelled, for purely partisan purposes, a highly needed program, namely the EH-101 helicopter acquisition program. It is the Liberal government that sent Canadians to be taken hostage in the former Yugoslavia. It is the Liberal government that does not put bread on the table of military families.
It is the Liberal government that sends teams on search and rescue missions in Labrador helicopters and, when they do not come back, tries to take benefits away from widows and children.
That is a direct quote from Hansard is by the vice chair of the defence committee, the member for Compton--Stanstead, the gentleman sitting right behind the minister of defence.
I want to know what changes have happened in the armed forces that have made such an easy 180 degree position and principle so easy. Who changed parties?
What assurances did the minister of defence give him that made him change his position so absolutely on the EH-101 when he said some of the most extreme things that could possibly be said in this House on that subject?