Mr. Speaker, for several months now I have been asking questions about Canadian veterans who were exposed to mustard gas testing during World War II. The U.S. has just announced that it will compensate its veterans who were involved in these experiments.
Last week the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence stated that he was looking at the American initiative.
While I am pleased to see that our government is finally acting, why must we wait to study the American decision? Did the parliamentary secretary's response indicate that had the Americans not taken this decision the Canadian government would have done nothing? Are we not old enough to stand on our own two feet, admit our mistakes and correct them without guidance from the U.S.? Why not make our own decisions and let the Americans study ours?
After 58 years of frustration, is it not time to compensate these veterans who gave so much for this country during the dark days of World War II? Providing these veterans with compensation is the least we can do, considering what they did for Canada.