Dave MacKenzie

[Civil Marriage Act, February 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have listened to the impassioned words of the hon. member for London—Fanshawe today. I had the opportunity on Friday evening to spend some time with him and some other members from the area of my riding. I have to say that the hon. member was perhaps the most popular member of the House present in that gathering. I know I would regret it if he decided to run in my riding. I would be in trouble with the folks there.

What caught my interest here today was the wealth of knowledge that he has gained from his research into this issue. One of the issues that has come up in this debate in the toing and froing in the House--

[Canadian Forces, February 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, our military has made it very clear that they are in dire need of a new airlift, new ships and new vehicles. The government, over the last 11 years, has watched our military disintegrate before its very eyes. The Chief of the Defence Staff has made it known that the forces cannot wait any longer and must begin the replacement of their aging equipment immediately.

Could the minister assure the House that he agrees that the Canadian Forces require far more than the $750 million in new funding in the upcoming budget?

[Canadian Forces, February 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, it appears that Mr. Dithers has now passed on his flaws in the form of a dithering virus to the Minister of National Defence. The minister shows all the symptoms of dithering with respect to his rewriting of a defence policy review and seems content to operate the military from a 1994 white paper.

Will the minister admit that this dithering has left the forces lacking direction and shortchanged in the upcoming budget?

[Canadian Forces, February 15th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, not only did our reservists have to take a charter flight, they also had to ask Uncle Sam if he could send a plane to Halifax to transport their exercise equipment.

Canadian Forces stated that they simply do not have the air lift capability, echoes of the chief of our air force who appeared before the Senate defence committee and revealed that our air force was stretched beyond its capability.

Can anyone imagine an army that flies charter and asks friends to transport their weapons? Will the minister commit today to the purchase of air lift for our forces and end this embarrassment?

[Canadian Forces, February 15th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, for days now we have heard cries for help from the newly installed Chief of Defence Staff and his colleagues.

Nearly 300 of our Canadian Forces reservists from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island who take part in South Bound Trooper, an annual training exercise at Fort Picket, Virginia, have been left to rent a charter flight in order to get there.

It appears that the Canadian Forces cries for help are still falling on deaf ears.

Could the minister assure the House that this will not be the practice of the future for transporting our troops?

[Foreign Affairs, February 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, when the Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Foreign Affairs answered my question regarding the Prime Minister's “pizzazz-like” foreign policy review, his answer was absolutely absurd. He said:

--the world has changed in the past 35 to 40 days. There was the situation that occurred in Ukraine and of course the tsunami.

We all know the world has changed but it has not stopped. Just how long will the world have to stop turning in order for the government to have enough time to complete its foreign policy review?

[National Defence, February 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the chief of our air force appeared before the Senate defence committee and revealed that our air force has been stretched beyond its capability.

Senator Kenny later commented by saying:

We have a really stressed air force that is being asked to do more than it's capable of doing.

My question is for the Minister of National Defence. If Senator Kenny understands this, then why does the government not understand it?

[Foreign Affairs, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, after campaigning for the job of Prime Minister for the better part of a decade, and holding countless policy discussions and round tables, and after a year of in-house bureaucratic work on a foreign policy review, the Prime Minister has sent the long awaited document back and brought in a Liberal academic to give it more pizzazz. We are still waiting for the Prime Minister's own vision on what Canada's foreign policy should look like.

Can the Prime Minister tell the House when the pizzazz will be ready for delivery and what it will cost?

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, only days after his appointment as Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier terminated the current defence policy review which was described as boring, dry and dreadful. The minister has delayed the release of the review several times in the House. Now we learn that we are going to start over again from scratch.

The Minister of National Defence now fully supports the overhaul of defence blueprint and wants it to be filled with fresh ideas. Can the minister explain his 180 degree turnaround?

[Dairy Industry, February 7th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, we have heard a lot about the effects of BSE on the beef industry in the past several months, but what we have not heard is that this crisis has had a negative impact on the dairy industry as well.

The city of Woodstock in my riding of Oxford is the dairy capital of Canada. Nearly 7% of the dairy farms in the province of Ontario are located in Oxford. Our dedicated farmers and their families deserve recognition and appreciation for the hard work they have invested in Canada's dairy industry despite the many challenges they have faced.

Recent price changes adopted by the Canadian Dairy Commission will hopefully see some reduction in the gap between operating costs and compensation for dairy farmers.

I urge the House to fully support this fundamental Canadian industry by ensuring that it is financially viable, and I want to thank Canadian dairy farmers and their families for all their hard work and dedication.

Finally, I would like to welcome the Dairy Farmers of Canada to Ottawa as it opens its annual dairy policy conference. I hope they enjoy their visit to the nation's capital.