Mr. Speaker, right now, as our government is making historic investments in the Canadian Armed Forces, we must not only prepare for thousands of new service members to put on the uniform but also consider what it means for them to one day become veterans, because while meeting the commitments we have made to our NATO allies is important, the commitments we make to the soldiers, sailors and aviators in the Canadian Armed Forces are paramount.
Quite honestly, this is an area where we have fallen short in the past again and again. Through both Liberal and Conservative governments, none of us has succeeded in providing the full support that our veterans deserve. No government has gotten it perfectly right. Now, I expect I am not supposed to say that, but it is true. The way I see things is that we can stand around these hallowed halls for the next decade continuing to play the blame game or we can step up and do the right thing. We cannot, in good conscience, use our frustration at past inaction as logic for blocking action today.
Over the past couple of months, I have found myself approaching this issue, this opportunity, with the words of poet and president Václav Havel humming in my ear. He said that “the real question is whether the brighter future is really always so distant. What if,” he asked, “it has been here for a long time already, and only our own blindness and weakness has prevented us from seeing it”? What if solutions we are looking for have been here for a long time already? What if the pieces of this brighter future are found in resources we already have? The motion that has been put forward is focused on the future. It is focused on veterans. It is focused on recognizing opportunities available to us within resources that already exist.
Motion No. 16 would direct that we undertake a fast and focused study to examine the best ways to activate the potential in surplus federal properties across the country. Such a study would provide us with a road map for communities to adapt to their own specific local circumstances. Motion No. 16 would allow us to actually take the time to outline a strategy for local action at scale. One size does not have to fit all. What we desperately need is a plan to move us beyond these one-off agreements and delays that lead to missed opportunities and crumbling buildings.
I would venture to say that not a single member in this chamber disagrees with the goal of utilizing federal properties more effectively, and I bet no one will find an MP who thinks we should not be striving for better supports and services for veterans. We already agree on these things. The motion seeks to move the situation beyond the administrative limbo that has for too long constrained the federal government from efficiently coordinating with provinces, municipalities, first nations and non-profit groups that might better maximize the potential within many government-owned properties.
The North Nova Scotia Highlanders landed on Juno Beach 82 years ago this June. They fought their way across northwest Europe, they liberated villages, and they paid an unbearable price. The Colonel James Layton Ralston Armoury in Amherst, Nova Scotia, the building where the Highlanders gathered and trained and kept that legacy alive, is one of the underutilized properties I have been speaking about today, property that deserves better than the red tape of administrative limbo, property that deserves a future.
I believe we can do better for the riding of Airdrie—Cochrane, better for Laurentides—Labelle, better for Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, better for Cumberland—Colchester and better for communities from coast to coast to coast, and this motion is how we start.
Even now, the words of Havel continue to hum, asking whether the brighter future is really always so distant. What if only our own blindness has prevented us from seeing it? I ask the membership of this chamber to focus on the future and support this motion.