Mr. Speaker, in the past the government could get away with providing substandard housing because, on average, a soldier would be posted to a base for four years and then be moved. Living in substandard housing was somehow made more bearable knowing that it was not forever.
The big defence budget cuts brought in by the finance minster, now Prime Minister, Mr. Dithers, meant that the government no longer had the money to post soldiers to different bases. While soldiers and their families might have been prepared to endure drafty houses and leaking pipes for a short period of time, budget cuts have meant that soldiers could find themselves serving their entire professional career on a single base.
This fact was recognized in the October 1998 report of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs entitled “Moving Forward: A Strategic Plan for Quality of Life Improvements in the Canadian Forces”. In the chapter called “The Housing Crisis”, all the points that I have referred to have been noted and verified. What I am stating is fact. I look forward to the response from the minister.