Mr. Speaker, what a privilege it is to be able to stand in this wonderful privileged place here in Canada, the House of Commons.
One of the most touching moments I ever had was when we had war vets come to the floor inside the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. At the time, there were three rows. I sat in the back row. I could virtually put my hand right behind me and touch one of the war vets.
I truly appreciate, as I am sure all members do, the valuable role that members of our forces, from yesterday, today, and going forward into the years ahead, play in ensuring we have the freedoms that we have today. It is one of the reasons why I made reference to what I thought was a fairly profound statement in a question that I got to pose just 45 minutes earlier, and that is that freedom is not free. It is something that we should never take for granted. It is also important that we appreciate the members of our forces and those individuals who have passed as a direct result of Canada being in conflict positions in the past, and to a certain degree, even today, where we have members of our forces in places in the world where there is significant conflict. They do an exceptional job and make all Canadians, as a whole, feel very proud. They have a high sense of pride.
I served in the Canadian Forces. I had the privilege to serve in the forces, in the air force. I can tell members that the response I got from the public, as a whole, during the days of my serving in the military was quite encouraging. We understand and we appreciate the feelings that are expressed to us, in particular, in other countries. Canada is looked on as a great nation, a nation that has provided a force to be reckoned with, whether it was in the heat of a battle or it was in the form of a peace mission.
Our forces also play roles of interest, in terms of national security, by providing support all over Canada, such as fighting floods in the province of Manitoba or even now, fighting this horrific typhoon that hit the Philippines. We send members of our forces. We do not recognize, I believe nowhere near to the degree in which we could, the contributions that the men and women of our forces make every day, which are very real and tangible.
When I look at the motion, Motion No. 448, as my critic made reference to just a few moments ago, it is a motion that we, as the Liberal Party, support. We recognize the importance of monuments. The mover of the motion made reference to the Peace Tower. A few weeks ago I was in the Peace Tower, not for my first or second time but probably my fourth or fifth time. It is very touching being in the Peace Tower and seeing the pages of the names of all those fallen soldiers, going back to World War I. We get a sense of what has taken place and the sacrifices that were made.
Afghanistan is a significant mission that was played. We still have personnel in Afghanistan. At some point, it will come to an end. I do believe it is appropriate that we recognize those fallen soldiers' efforts and the vets who are coming back. The government might have been somewhat sensitive to what my colleague was pointing out, with regard to the vets. I know it is because he feels very passionately, as Canadians feel.
I thought it was interesting when the parliamentary secretary said that there is no living soldier today whose files were destroyed. No doubt we will have to find out whether or not it is true.
The parliamentary secretary was given the opportunity to retract or correct the record. He can count on the Liberal Party to make sure that this is true. However, it is a little off topic. We are talking about monuments. We need to look at how we can actually contribute to the debate.
Every so often I get to drive down Selkirk Avenue in Winnipeg's north end where there is a beautiful memorial for Tommy Prince. He was a well-established, decorated soldier. It embodies a great sense of pride in Winnipeg's north end.
It is not just the monument. Monuments, murals, we have all sorts of representations throughout our great nation to pay tribute to the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that we have the freedom we have today.
It is not only important to recognize the need to add to the current stock. It is also important to ensure that the resources are there to properly care for the monuments and other tributes.
My time has come to and end. I will wait for the second hour of debate on this very important issue.