Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague in the New Democratic Party for his speech. I do not agree with his position, but at least New Democrats have been consistent on this issue.
The government's position is all over the map. The Liberal Party loves to say one thing and do another. Liberal members opposite really need to think about this, because the backbench members are free to vote as they see fit. They are not part of the government; they are part of the caucus but not part of the government. They should be able to vote freely, as the Liberal Prime Minister has committed to in this House.
When we look at the Liberal Party's traditional position on this, it is actually to support the combat mission against the Islamic State. In fact, on November 17, just last month, former Liberal cabinet minister Ujjal Dosanjh went live on CBC and said that the Prime Minister is sending the wrong message to allies after the Paris attacks, and encouraged the government to reverse its decision to withdraw from the combat mission against the Islamic State. Former Liberal cabinet minister Irwin Cotler also made the same point on October 7, 2014, when he said that he believes a combat mission is necessary to combat the Islamic State.