Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.
The first petition draws the attention of Parliament to the fact that personnel strength in the armed forces has dropped by 30% over the past decade; that much of our military equipment, particularly our Leopard tanks and the CF-18 Hornet aircraft and, most notably of all, the Sea King helicopter, are badly in need of replacement or of upgrading; and finally, that we lack the airlift and sealift capability overseas.
Therefore the petitioners request that the Government of Canada accelerate increases to the defence budget and ensure that an additional $1.2 billion per year go toward defence in the future.