Mr. Speaker, reports in the National Post today on the tragic Snowbirds accident indicate that it took an air force rescue team 47 minutes to reach the crash site by truck. Three military helicopters used to be on standby for emergency rescue duties at CFB Moose Jaw, but were discontinued as cost saving measures by the Liberal government in the mid-1990s. In the words of Lieutenant Colonel Laurie Hawn, “That decision was pure dollars. They had to save a few bucks and it should not have happened”.
Why is the Liberal government placing the lives of Canadian airmen at risk just to save a few bucks?