Mr. Speaker, I thank my honourable colleague for his question.
First, I would like to reiterate that this government has tremendous respect for the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces. They know their duty is to carry out the missions the government asks of them, and they do outstanding work in performing their duties.
The least we can do is ensure that they are appropriately compensated for the excellent work they do on operations, and that is exactly what the minister said to the member opposite during committee in December, and again when we debated his motion earlier this month in the House.
We committed to look after our men and women in uniform, particularly regarding their compensation. This commitment has not changed. The minister himself has been deployed many times, and he knows how important these allowances are not only for our soldiers, but for their families back at home as well.
This is why Canadian Armed Forces members deployed abroad are entitled to allowances that reflect the conditions and risks that they are exposed to. The risk levels assigned to Canadian Armed Forces operations are established by a committee after review by various experts, including medical and intelligence advisors.
This is a rigorous and thorough process that involves multiple departments. The goal of this committee is to assign levels that accurately reflect the actual conditions and risks that personnel are exposed to in a specific geographic location and on a specific operation. Like for all CAF operations abroad, the different levels assigned to Operation Impact are continuously reviewed to ensure our men and women in uniform continue to be appropriately compensated.
As the hon. member pointed out, there have been recent changes changes in the risk allowance of 15 soldiers deployed to Kuwait as part of Operation Impact. In its new assessment, the committee found that the level of risk was not high enough to meet the requirements for a tax break for those locations.
That being said, we are currently looking at how best to appropriately compensate our personnel for the outstanding work they do on operations. This includes reviewing internal procedures on addressing hardship and risk conditions.
As we have said it before, the minister has asked the Chief of the Defence Staff to look into this issue and to make recommendations on what changes need to be made. The minister has also asked the Department of National Defence to work with the other relevant departments and agencies to review this process. Work to do so is currently under way.
During the debate on March 9, our government supported the motion to reinstate tax relief for Canadian Armed Forces personnel deployed in Arifjan, Kuwait. The House adopted the motion unanimously that evening.
Our government stands with our men and women in uniform who are doing an extraordinary job serving their country in dangerous places. We are extremely proud of the work they are accomplishing. Our troops that are deployed in various locations in Iraq as part of Operation Impact have been very successful so far in helping local forces defeat Daesh. Together with our allies, they contribute significantly to the global fight against Daesh.
As members of the House are well aware, they are accomplishing a wide variety of tasks in support of the coalition. Our CAF personnel are contributing a great deal to this success, and we remain committed to ensure they are appropriately compensated for the work they do.