Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to the motion moved by our colleague.
What really gets me here is that the motion has nothing to do with the Liberals' self-congratulatory blather about what they did or did not do. The motion reads as follows:
That the House call on the Prime Minister to apologize to veterans for his insensitive comments at a recent town hall in Edmonton...
What members on this side want is for the Prime Minister to admit he made a mistake. Making mistakes is human. I think veterans would be happy with that. The Conservatives did not make this story up. It was all over the web. That is what the Prime Minister said at town halls. He is the one who made that promise to veterans, not us. What we want to hear today is one simple phrase: “I am sorry I disrespected you.”
The Liberals are always tooting their own horn. I get the impression that the word “respect” bothers them. All we are asking for is one simple sentence. Our veterans went out there and fought, and now they are back home and they have rights. They want an apology, and we will keep pressing for that until we hear the words “apologize” and “respect”.