Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for my promotion to minister at the beginning of his question.
What I would say is the same thing I have been saying. The purpose of having a policy on hardship pay, or danger pay, as everyone in the forces calls it, is that it is known in advance. Before we send missions out, we evaluate the dangers. That is done before we put people in the field. Is it sometimes revised later because of changing circumstances? Absolutely. That is necessary, but there is no case I know of where the Canadian Forces have been sent abroad without that kind of evaluation being done before they go. It is part of the planning for any mission.
That is why I say that I take the minister seriously that he wants to get this policy straightened out, clarified, and in place before we send additional Canadians abroad so that they know what to expect as their compensation for taking on this difficult and dangerous work.