Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her excellent speech, which helps us shed more light on the motion introduced today by my colleague from Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, the official opposition’s national defence critic. I also congratulate him on his excellent work advocating for our troops and pointing out the Liberal government’s many shortcomings with respect to the men and women in our armed forces defending our country.
The motion is also supported by our deputy critic for national defence, the member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles. He is also hard at work every day making the Minister of National Defence aware of the importance of our troops for Canada and the importance of treating them properly. Here is the motion:
That the House call on the government to show support and appreciation for the brave men and women serving in the Canadian Armed Forces by reversing its decision to take away from the soldiers fighting against ISIS the tax benefit which provides them with $1,500 to $1,800 per month for the hardship and risk associated with their deployment, and to retroactively provide the payment to members stationed at Camp Arifjan whose tax relief was cancelled as of September 1, 2016.
Like many of my colleagues in the House, I served my country in Canada's armed forces many years ago, though not for very long. I attended the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean for a few months as a cadet. The circumstances made it impossible for me to pursue my military career. However, several of my colleagues and friends at the time went on to pursue great and distinguished careers in the Canadian Forces. They have served their country in different parts of the world.
During my service, I developed an emotional bond with the Canadian Armed Forces that nothing can undo. I suspect all the men and women who have served their country in the Canadian Forces know what I am talking about. No matter how long we serve in the Canadian Forces, we always keep something that binds us to the men and women who defend our country and our freedom day after day.
The purpose of the motion is to support members of our military forces who are fighting backwards-thinking, murderous terrorists with no respect for human life. I am talking about the terrorist forces of ISIS.
I read an article published on February 28 in Le Soleil, in Quebec City, that astounded me. I was astounded by the comments made by a retired soldier who served his country abroad on numerous occasions, in particular in Afghanistan. There are two passages I would like to quote, the first of which is this:
“The motivation for being deployed has been taken away,” added the man, who also believes the financial impact on those affected will be “considerable”.
From the same article:
“The guys are definitely angry....They are losing a lot of money....There won't be much [money] left to compensate us for the danger and length of the missions. It is certainly going to be a factor...”
Near the Valcartier military base, several other soldiers spoke out against this measure to a journalist:
“It’s crap,” one of them spat. “I was supposed to be deployed to Mali, but I'm not so sure anymore,” he said, adding that this was a real step backwards.
These people expect to be treated properly, particularly when they put their lives, their families’ health and their relatives’ health in danger simply by being in danger zones.
The decision to eliminate this tax exemption, which may be worth almost $10,000 for a six-month period, is making soldiers angry, as well as putting their families in danger. Their families sometimes have trouble making ends meet when their breadwinner is away from Canada for six or nine or even 12 months, in some cases, not to mention the problems associated with distance and worry.
The men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces leave their families voluntarily. They travel abroad to do a dangerous job and they expose themselves to risks. They miss important family occasions, like birthdays and graduations. They sometimes suffer physical, emotional or mental injuries that are often associated with serious consequences both for them directly and for their family members.
Why do these men and women make all these sacrifices? They do it to protect us from potential and actual enemies. They do it because they are concerned about the dangers that lie in wait for our country. They do it because it is their purpose in life and because they want to do it. They do not do it for the money. I want to be very clear on that point. I have never met a soldier who decided to be deployed to a danger zone solely for the money we are talking about today. These men and women do not do it for that. They do not voluntarily put themselves in danger for $10,000 for a six-month period.
The money they were paid was a mark of recognition for their efforts and the additional risks, no more nor less. Everyone knows that they do these jobs in a very risky environment.
The Liberals have known for a long time that Canadian troops deployed in the fight against ISIS are not paid adequately for the hardships and risks associated with their deployment. The government has changed the rules, while many soldiers have volunteered and are in the theatre of operations, as we speak. Unfortunately, that decision was made after the troops agreed to be deployed.
Could it be that the Liberal government wants to discourage soldiers from volunteering for dangerous missions so they will be available for other missions? I do not think so. Decisions like that are not made on the assumption that people will avoid taking part in missions. A decision like that cannot be made for that reason.
Moreover, the government is hoping for a seat on the UN Security Council, something we would be remiss not to mention in a file like this one. However, it is important that our soldiers know where they stand. By eliminating this benefit, the Liberals are deceiving the troops, denying them the hard-earned money that they were expecting and that they deserve.
I would like to take a few moments to point out that this Liberal government is still working on running up its deficit, which has become much more massive than what it had promised during the campaign in the fall of 2015.
Today, during question period, I had the opportunity to address the Minister of Transport on the possible sale of Canadian airports in order to finance a possible infrastructure bank, something that will perhaps be announced on March 22, when the budget is tabled. We see that the Liberals are currently looking for every opportunity to make money. Every dollar counts, because they are currently trying to pay the interest on the Minister of Finance’s credit card. The ATM ran out and now we are living on the Minister of Finance’s line of credit and credit card. Nearly everyone is being called on to do their bit. I hope the government is not wanting to top up its kitty on the backs of our troops. That would be completely insane.
I am very happy to learn that all parties in the House will be supporting the motion. I am glad to learn that there is a sincere and genuine desire to resolve the situation for our troops. What I do not understand is why this has not been done already.
In closing, I would like to quote a comment that the Minister of National Defence made earlier today in his speech:
“The highly political approach that the opposition has taken to this issue may give Canadians a false impression that our Canadian men and women are demanding more money in exchange, but this is not the case. Our women and men chose to sacrifice a great deal in order to serve their country. We want to honour that spirit of sacrifice to ensure we have a fair, transparent compensating system for them”.
That is what the minister said today. If the minister wishes to do away with the whole political approach, then let him stop waffling and simply do something. He has the power and he can decide immediately to make sure that our men and women who serve in dangerous places receive the fair compensation they deserve.
Once again, I am very happy to see the support for this motion from all parties in the House.
I would again like to congratulate my two colleagues who have worked very hard in recent weeks and months to raise this problem here in the House.