Mr. Speaker, the defence minister, on November 23, said:
There has never been a single proven allegation of abuse involving a prisoner transferred by the Canadian Forces, not one.
In one question period alone, the minister repeated this line no less than five times. There was no ambiguity, no uncertainty, just an unqualified statement dismissing disturbing allegations of torture, a statement we now know was false.
Why did the defence minister fail to ensure he was speaking the truth before answering in this House? Why was it left to the Chief of the Defence Staff to uncover the minister's falsehood?