Mr. Speaker, all members of the House know the passion I have for the men and women who serve us in the military and the RCMP. This is an area of profound concern because, as the member said, they have already outlined a number of figures for the military that allow a comparison with the decade of darkness.
The main estimates that we now see before the House show an operational cut of $400 million and an almost $4 billion procurement cut or delay. If we combine the procurement cancellations alongside the operational cuts, they amounts to cuts that are actually larger than what we saw in total in the 1990s.
With procurement in particular, the longer we wait to acquire these aircraft, the higher the cost will be. The Sea King was cancelled while I was an officer cadet at the Royal Military College. I served my military time. I became a lawyer. I practised law. I was elected to Parliament. Then, in my first time on Power & Politics, what was I talking about? The Liberals' screwed-up Sea King procurement.
If we delay or screw up procurement, we are delaying it for 25 years. It will raise the cost to Canadians. Worse, it will potentially put the lives of the people we ask to serve this country at risk. I ask the Liberals to stop that.