House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 49% of the vote.
National Defence June 16th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, as stated before, the acting chief of the defence staff is reviewing this matter very closely as it falls within his responsibility within the chain of command, and the acting chief of the defence staff has stated already that the vice chief of the defence staff is currently no longer in his role.
Our government has a lot more work to do when it comes to dealing with misconduct, and we will get it done.
National Defence June 16th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to supporting our Canadian Armed Forces, we need to put our money where our mouth is, and that is exactly what our government did, not like the previous government, especially when the member was the parliamentary secretary to national defence.
We have invested in the Canadian Armed Forces. All our services will be re-equipped when it comes to that, because we have increased the budget by 20%. We have put an emphasis on dealing with the misconduct, something we wish we could have done immediately, and we wish we could have it done overnight. We know we have a lot more work to do, and we are willing to get it done.
National Defence June 16th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, I will take no lessons from the member opposite, who was the parliamentary secretary of national defence when the Conservatives were in government, when they slashed the budget of defence at that time. They did not put the troops first. They did not deal with the misconduct.
When we formed the government, we made it very clear that we wanted to put our people first and eliminate sexual misconduct or any form of misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces. We know from the recent allegations that we have a lot more work to do. We are willing to get it done.
National Defence June 16th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, our government will continue to support the Canadian Armed Forces with what it needs, not like the previous government, which cut from the defence budget just so it could try to balance its budget.
We have increased the budget by 17%, but most importantly, we put an emphasis on supporting our people. Chapter 1 of the defence policy, if the member read it, focuses on our people.
We know that we have a lot more work to do when it comes to eliminating sexual misconduct or any form of misconduct from the Canadian Armed Forces, and we are going to get it done.
National Defence June 16th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, what our government understands is making sure to support our women and men in the Canadian Armed Forces. We need to resource them properly, and we need to put proper policies in place.
As I stated before, we know we have a lot more work to do given the recent allegations we have seen, and we will get it done. We have appointed Justice Louise Arbour to make sure that we get the right recommendations on how to make sure that we eliminate all forms of sexual misconduct. We will get this done.
National Defence June 16th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, as I stated, we know that we have a lot more work to do when it comes to eradicating all forms of misconduct. We started that on day one when we formed government. We know that we have a lot more work to do, and I hope that the member opposite will support budget 2021 because it includes $236 million for eliminating sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces.
National Defence June 16th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, as I said, we know that we have a lot more work to do. We need to get the work done, and we will, but when it comes to honouring the sacrifice of our Canadian Armed Forces members, it is about supporting them and giving them the proper resources for them to do their work. That is what our government has done.
In our defence policy, we have increased the budget by over 70% within 10 years and guaranteed it for 20 years. We re-equipped all our services and did not cut from the defence budget, as the previous government did so it could balance its budget.
National Defence June 16th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives continue with the political cheap shots, we will stay focused on the Canadian Armed Forces. When they were in government, they cut from the Canadian Armed Forces' budget. We have added to it, and we are increasing the defence budget by 70%.
We put people first. Chapter number one of our defence policy is about our people and is focused on our people, but we know we have a lot more work to do to eliminate any type of misconduct from the Canadian Armed Forces, and we will double down and get it done.
National Defence June 16th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, our government and I are absolutely committed to making sure we create an inclusive environment for the Canadian Armed Forces. Our resolve was just the same when we came in to form the government in 2015 as it is now, and I hope that the member opposite will support budget 2021, in which we are adding $236 million for eliminating sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces.
National Defence June 16th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, I will let my actions be judged by the members of Vancouver South. I am proud of my service.
Let us talk about the hypocrisy of the Leader of the Opposition. He leads a party that fails to protect a woman's right to choose, that amplified Islamophobic rhetoric when it was in government and that voted against a motion to condemn Islamophobia. Let us talk about a record, and we will let the constituents of Vancouver South choose, and all Canadians choose, to see the Conservatives' hypocrisy.