Mr. Speaker, the members of our party vote yea to this motion.
Lost his last election, in 2006, with 29% of the vote.
Division No. 165 May 25th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the members of our party vote yea to this motion.
Division No. 164 May 25th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, members of my party will be voting nay.
Division No. 163 May 25th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, members of my party will vote yea.
Division No. 161 May 25th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, members of my party will vote yea.
Division No. 160 May 25th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, members of my party will vote nay.
Division No. 159 May 25th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, members of our party will vote yea.
Supply May 14th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, allow me to congratulate my colleague from the Reform Party for his speech, which has shown us how widespread the problem related to the armed forces is.
In fact, what he is calling for is what all Canadians are waiting for. I believe no one in Canada would fault the government for making an official announcement, by either the Prime Minister or the Minister of National Defence, on measures that can be taken immediately to improve the situation of all our military personnel, as well as measures for the medium term. This could, obviously, mean they would end up with a budget spread out over at least five years, for better equipment management
I ask my colleague whether what he is referring to is what the auditor general found, the total absence of a strategic plan for the Canadian Armed Forces, a plan which would enable it to define priorities for the short, medium and long terms for the navy, army and air force, through measures that could be implemented immediately, tomorrow morning, in fact.
The parliamentary secretary has referred to rationalization. Everyone agrees with this, but there are some measures in place at the present time that need to be corrected. I would like to know whether this is what my hon. colleague was referring to.
Supply May 14th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, first of all allow me to thank my colleague from the Reform Party, who supported this morning my motion to create in the armed forces a position similar to that of the auditor general and commonly called ombudsman.
I think that this would indeed provide an answer to all the serious problems our military personnel and their families are confronted to.
I wonder if our colleague could share with us two or three of the most pressing recommendations this government and its defence minister should implement immediately instead of waiting for the report on which the standing committee on defence is working on, to at least show all our troops that we listened to what the auditor general has been saying for the past two, three or four years. I would like to hear my colleague on this.
Supply May 14th, 1998
Madam Speaker, I will use my 15 seconds to thank our colleague, who is on the standing committee, for the very positive work the committee has done for all of Canada.
The matter of the helicopters is another scandal of the present government. They wanted to win. They won by promising Canadians that they would scrap the matter, knowing full well that financially and technically the matter—
Supply May 14th, 1998
Based on all that information, we think the government has no choice. It must make a statement on the state of our armed forces and their ability to fulfil their mandate.
This is precisely what the auditor general asked of this government. Over the last five years, in addition to scrapping the helicopter deal, the government has been scrapping the whole of the Canadian Armed Forces, both in terms of their equipment and in terms of the pride that our military used to have. These people feel that the authorities, and particularly the government, never listen to them.
This is why we must set up a rapid reaction corps and have an ombudsman who will listen to our military on a daily basis because, as I said, they are afraid to speak freely. They were very pleased to appear before the committee, but afterwards the issue will be completely forgotten.
We must have effective means of protecting the lives of our military, and this affects not just tens of thousands of citizens, but hundreds of thousands of them. I am convinced that we could then implement all the recommendations made by the standing committee on national defence.
I agree that the work being done by the committee members from all the political parties is positive and effective. But the government must act immediately, because our military are leaving the forces. This is unprecedented. They are leaving. It is unbelievable. I see it in my region, on the base in Bagotville. Our best specialists, our best pilots and our best technicians are leaving the military, because they do not feel that they are considered as valuable individuals in Canada.
This is why we want to take action. Today is Armed Forces Day in Canada, and it is an opportunity to show greater respect for our military.