Mr. Speaker, what the former finance minister did is slash $29 billion from defence spending. Now department sources say they are only going to get $2 billion to $2.4 billion over the next three years.
That is not enough. Our forces need at least $2 billion to be added to the base budget for next year to cover the $1.5 billion military deficit and to start rebuilding our military to fight the war on terrorism.
Will the current finance minister invest enough in the next fiscal year to reverse the erosion of the Canadian Forces, or will he be satisfied to merely slow down the decline?