Mr. Speaker, I will try not to get sidetracked by some of the debate I heard over the last few minutes. I must admit it will be quite difficult because quite frankly we heard some nonsense from members on the government side. There is no other way to describe it. It is very unfortunate.
There is a vast difference of opinion in government. That is fine but there are certain situations when a little more research is necessary. Some members put forth quite shocking positions basically blaming our closest friend and ally, the United States, for what has happened in Iraq. It is simply not true. It is unacceptable and I hope we do not hear more of that tonight.
I will not get into too much of that. As defence critic for the official opposition I want to talk about what Canada could and could not deliver if called upon to support our allies in a war against Iraq, something that all of us hope can be averted. Nevertheless we all know Saddam Hussein's past record. We simply cannot count on him. War is a real possibility and we must consider that.
I wish to begin with a comment made by our defence minister earlier tonight in debate in the House. He said that Canada would not hesitate to provide military support if needed if Iraq did not comply with weapons inspectors. I have no problem with the statement. It is certainly what Canada should do but the question I will talk about later is what we could contribute. He said we should provide military support but I want to talk about what we could and could not provide.
It is interesting to see how many Liberals have been shocked by the position laid out by their own ministers who said that if need be, if Iraq would not comply with the UN resolution on weapons inspectors, that we should then be prepared to take military action.
It is quite surprising indeed to see the strong, vehement reaction to that from some government MPs and some opposition MPs from other political parties. They seem to forget that as short a time ago as 1998 their Prime Minister, the current Prime Minister, supported without a UN resolution, the bombing of Iraq by the United States and the United Kingdom. That is a fact. That is something that many of these people have completely forgotten.
At the time, I did not heard government members speak out against that action. They seemed to support it with their silence. Why now are they trying to deny what in fact happened in 1998? Why now are they so shocked with the possibility of Canada supporting action in Iraq once again? It is a little hard to understand but the government's position has not been as clear as many Canadians would like to see.
As little as a month ago we had the foreign affairs minister and the Prime Minister take the position that under no circumstances would Canada be involved in military action in Iraq. That was about a month ago.
Three weeks ago both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs said they needed proof that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and they needed proof that it would be used against Canada or an ally before they would take any action. That is what they said. Members should check the record unless government members are saying that the media has been all wrong on this. They are quoted in the media taking that position.
Now three weeks or a month later we have the government taking an entirely different position, the correct position, that in fact, if Iraq does not comply with the UN resolution on weapons inspectors, then we will be involved with our allies in military action if needed.
That is not a stellar foreign affairs position or stream of events. Consistency is extremely important on foreign affairs issues and it simply has not been here with the government.
Instead the initial reaction was American bashing and anti-American statements even on the part of ministers. Our closest friend and ally and it gets bashed and even blamed by the Prime Minister as being responsible somehow for the terrorist attacks. This is a foreign affairs disaster. Canada has paid a price for that already, and we certainly will pay more in the future.
I have strayed from the area I want to talk about tonight and that is what Canada could deliver. What could Canada deliver if asked? Let us look at what has happened over the past few months. Canada made a commitment of six months in Afghanistan to fight the war against terrorism with our allies. Our soldiers did a marvellous job. American commanders said the Canadian soldiers were better trained and better soldiers than many of their own. That is quite a statement coming from American military leaders. We have among the best in the world. They are well trained, capable people and admirable indeed. Unfortunately the equipment they are asked to work with is completely unacceptable. That was also pointed out again and again by Americans who were fighting alongside our troops.
When asked for a second six month commitment in Afghanistan of ground forces we could not comply. We had to pull our ground forces out. Our military leadership said they were burned out to such an extent we could not contribute longer. We had to pull more than half the force, the navy and air force, out of the area of Afghanistan. Then we had to cut our contingent in our next rotation into the Balkans because our troops were that badly burned out.
Now, we are facing the possibility of being asked by our allies, and the defence minister agreeing, to make a significant contribution in an attack in Iraq. What realistically can we deliver?
I must agree with what the minister said in one respect. He said it depends on how urgent the situation is. I do not know how he defines what an urgent situation is but he is right in saying that in the short term we could contribute a significant effort again for a six month period. However he did not carry it to the next step which is we simply could not sustain any meaningful contribution in Iraq beyond that six month commitment.
That is not what our allies are looking for and that is not what Canadians are looking for when they are looking for Canada to play its role in a serious situation like this war on terror and the possible war in Iraq. It is not what Canadians want. We cannot contribute what we should.
In terms of equipment, if we are asked for some type of air support our F18s have not been upgraded so that they can fly with our allies. They simply do not have the secure communications system and other high tech equipment needed for us to operate with our allies. As far as the navy, we do not have helicopters that would be absolutely necessary in a situation like that. We have good frigates worth almost a billion dollars a piece and for the sake of not having capable helicopters to put on board they are deemed almost useless in a situation like that. Their value is decreased dramatically, so we could not provide an awful lot there, although we could provide something for a short time. We know our ground forces are burned out. We cannot contribute for an extended period of time whatsoever.
The minister said we must be prepared to support that and we must be prepared to be part of a rapid reaction force that NATO has proposed. That could be put together quite quickly. It could even be part of a war against Iraq. That would be a 20,000 member force. Our minister said we would contribute hundreds to that commitment. That would be absolutely a wasted effort unless we get the strategic airlift to get our men and equipment there quickly and get the high tech equipment that would be absolutely necessary for us to work with our allies in that type of rapid reaction force.
Our men and women, among the best in the world, are let down once again by the lack of action on the part of the government. We do not have enough people or proper equipment to contribute. It is a sad reality, one created by the government over the past nine years and by other governments in the 20 or 30 years before that.
Canadians will pass judgment on all of these people. I want to see action in this next budget, a minimum of $2 billion per year added to the base budget of our military so that we can start the rebuilding process and make meaningful contributions in the future.
