Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I want to thank my friend and colleague for his years of honourable service. I know that he has lots of experience and a tremendous amount of insight into the military and that he represented our nation honourably. I also want to thank him for not joining the apparent chorus and pile-on effect in attacking the Minister of National Defence and his record. I have been disappointed in this House over the last couple of weeks by some of the unwarranted personal attacks.
Given the degree of experience my friend across the floor has, his background and service, it is not impossible to imagine a universe in which, if the Conservatives formed government, he would become the minister of national defence. By the same token, the current leader of the Conservative Party was the minister of national defence when this came to light in 2015.
If the member were the minister of national defence, how would he have dealt with this differently, and why would that achieve a different outcome?