Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Calgary Centre-North has been a tremendous advocate for first nations people and has done an outstanding job as the critic for aboriginal affairs and northern development for the Conservative Party. He brings a great deal of compassion and an incredible amount of knowledge to the table on these issues. He has done a fantastic job and I say that with all sincerity.
I want to explain how this particular motion came before the House. After hearing incredibly moving testimony at the aboriginal affairs committee about the differential treatment of aboriginal veterans, the hon. member for Calgary Centre-North put forward a motion at the end of one of those meetings calling on the government to recognize the inappropriate treatment of aboriginal veterans and to thank them for their service. The motion was supported by both the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, to their great credit.
Unfortunately, the government, for whatever reason, was not in support of the motion. The Liberals delayed and refused to allow the motion, a very simple motion recognizing what are facts and thanking these veterans for their service and thanking them on behalf of Canada, to come to a vote.
The Liberals put on this show in front of distinguished veterans and representatives of veterans groups from across the country. I must say that I was truly offended at what happened in committee on that day.
For that reason I thought if this could not be dealt with in committee then it had to be something that the entire House had deal with. If the Liberals wanted to put on a show in front of Canadians and make a mockery of the sacrifice of the service provided by these veterans, then they could do that in the House of Commons in front of Canadians so they could see how they act.