Mr. Speaker, it is bad enough that the Liberal government has been chronically underfunding and neglecting our defence forces since it was elected, but what it is now doing to our military families while we are on the cusp of war is truly despicable.
In November the government increased the rents of our soldiers' homes $100 a month. Next month it will cut their cost of living allowance $150 a month. Even with their raises, our soldiers this year will be much worse off than last year. What kind of government do we have that gives a raise to our troops with one hand and then slyly takes much more money away from them while they are on deployment? This is atrocious policy and appalling timing. At our naval base in Esquimalt this has been greatly demoralizing.
To the government: do the right thing, freeze the rents on our military families' homes, stop cutting their PLD, and treat our military and its families with respect.