Madam Speaker, I would like to comment on the comments from the Minister of National Defence, who questioned why the previous government did not anticipate this threat earlier. He well knows that even our allies, like the United States, did not anticipate this threat. Major General Michael Nagata, who is the special operations commander for the United States, even said in December 2014 that “We have not defeated the idea. We do not even understand the idea.” All of the allies in this coalition were caught off-guard.
I just want to make the point as well for my colleague from Parry Sound—Muskoka that last week it was reported in the media that the Royal Canadian Air Force flew four sorties, four raids, over five days. Presumably, the Royal Canadian Air Force has the support of the government in this mission. If it is good enough for the first week of December, why is it not good enough in the first week of January or the first week of February to conduct these missions against ISIS?