350th Anniversary of Charlesbourg  Mr. Speaker, I want to take the opportunity I have here today to recognize the hard work of everyone who contributed to the success of the 350th anniversary of Charlesbourg. Located in the heart of my riding, Charlesbourg is now one of Quebec City's six boroughs. Although the amalgamation dates back to January 1, 2002, the people of Charlesbourg have always felt a strong sense of belonging within their community.

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Madam Speaker, I can respond to the question about whether our pilots were disappointed or sad. Lieutenant General Charles Brown, the U.S. commander of the coalition air force, was interviewed by the Calgary Herald. He mentioned that he himself was sad to see our pilots leave and that our pilots were truly sad.

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, since we started debating this motion I have noticed that when we ask questions about the mission we never get any answers. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe we are currently deploying our special forces to provide training and security and our medical forces to go into the refugee camps.

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, one thing seems clear: my colleague's speech is very relevant, despite what the member opposite said. The worst part about this situation is the grey area. During our mission, it was clear. We were conducting air strikes and some of our troops were on the ground providing training.

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, for the past few days I have been listening to the presentations by our government friends, who would have us believe that their plan is the best possible plan. I would like to start by telling my colleague, the Minister of Veterans Affairs, that this is not a NATO mission.

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, my colleague said the $1.1 billion in humanitarian assistance should go to civilians. Given that ISIS members are not military personnel per se, since they do not belong to a particular country, does my colleague consider ISIS members to be civilians and could they potentially receive Canadian assistance?

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence said that we need to be on the ground to combat the so-called Islamic State. Since he has confirmed that our soldiers are involved in ground operations where they could be exposed to enemy fire, he has the duty to protect them. However, he is withdrawing our CF-18s from the fight.

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question. I was indeed a member of the Canadian Armed Forces for 22 years. I am still in contact with former colleagues who are still members of the forces and who share their concerns with me. At the NATO meetings, I was able to talk to colleagues from different countries.

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question. As I said, when I spoke to parliamentarians from allied and foreign countries, they told me, in private, that Canada's position was weakened because we were withdrawing from combat. This is not hearsay. I think the government is to blame for that.

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, the previous government sent CF-18s into combat and special forces to train Iraqi soldiers. We have never been against the training component. The new plan is problematic because it eliminates the combat capacity, which was effective. Even if we only carried out 2.5% of the strikes, we were one of the five countries that were bombing targets effectively.

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I want to say that I will be sharing my time with the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke. The member for Orléans is a former military member like me. Today, we are in politics and our duty is to put our soldiers first. The decisions we make are critical.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government's plan for combatting ISIS is very simple: Canada will be a spectator. Furthermore, we will do less and it will be more dangerous. The Liberals have already withdrawn our CF-18s, even though we are currently debating their motion, and this puts our armed forces in a vulnerable position.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, this week, the Minister of National Defence was unable to tell us about the plan to fight the Islamic State. We found out why. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was in Rome to present the plan to the international coalition, and the defence minister was not even in the loop.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, you are saying that the Minister of National Defence is a great minister, but we can see that you are the one who is actually coming up with the plan. First the minister told us that the terrorist threat is due to climate change, and now we have learned that the government's plan will impact the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I will ask the question again and maybe we will get an answer. For days now we have been asking the Minister of National Defence what his plan is to deal with the Islamic State. He said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs was dealing with it while he was in Rome.