National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the only thing the minister can say to explain our capability gap is that we have a capability gap. I would remind him that repeating a lie does not make it true. There is no capability gap. The Liberals should immediately launch a competition to replace our CF-18s instead of buying a fleet of 18 Super Hornets that we do not need.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Liberals announced that they would be taking billions of dollars from Canadians to cover the Prime Minister's backside. The decision to purchase an interim aircraft makes no sense. According to the commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, the current fleet of CF-18s will be operational until 2025, which means there is time to move forward with a competitive process now.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence is playing word games. We know full well that there are troops on the ground. Indeed, the words “assist”, “train”, “advise” and all the other possible words they can think of in French or English are being used. What we want is for the government to tell us whether Canadian troops are engaging in combat in any way.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I will essentially repeat my colleague's question. As a veteran, it was a shame to see the minister use Remembrance Day to continue his UN public relations campaign. On the subject of Iraq, when the Prime Minister was in opposition, he said he could not support any mission as long as the arguments to support it had not been openly presented.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, commenting on the mission in Africa, the minister's press secretary confirmed that the three-year mission is one of the options on the table. What are the other options? We know nothing about this mission, but we are about to send Canadian soldiers to one of the most dangerous theatres of operation in the world.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, last Friday, Remembrance Day, the minister confirmed that he had committed Canada to a three-year deployment in Africa. Shame on him for making Remembrance Day a platform for that announcement. That shows a lack of respect for veterans. All we know about the mission is how long it will last and that it will be dangerous.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister and the minister said that stopping extremist groups from shooting at each other was not the priority, but to me, that is a prerequisite for peace. The government is about to send our soldiers to Mali to play social worker and talk to extremists.

Remembrance Day  Mr. Speaker, as a former commanding officer of the Régiment de la Chaudière, I got to spend some time with the heros who sacrificed everything to spend years training in order to be ready to join the invasion of Europe on the beaches of Normandy. These heroes did not see themselves as such.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. I do not have a calculator, but off the top of my head I can say that after four years under this Liberal government, the deficit will be over $100 billion. What I noted from her question is something I mentioned in my speech.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I thank my esteemed colleague for her question. Our children will owe an extra $1,000. The fifth grandson of a colleague of mine was born yesterday, and his debt went up by $1,000 the moment he entered this world. What a thoughtful gift from the current Liberal government.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I will try to remember the name of the riding of my colleague from Saint John—Rothesay, because I found he said some rather insulting things about the former government. For 10 years, the former government navigated the worst global economic crisis. It made investments in infrastructure to get the economy back on track.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I wanted to respond to the economic update that was given yesterday and remind the House that the government is making Canadians even poorer by running this massive deficit. Today, Canada's future is bleaker and more unstable. I am worried about the future of my children and of generations to come.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, once again, the minister is going to visit Mali, where the government is preparing to send our troops. As a former commander of this type of infantry, I am well aware of the risks associated with the different missions. I would like to remind the House that, this year alone, this mission has cost over 32 peacekeepers their lives, bringing the total number of casualties up to 100.

National Defence  Madam Speaker, on the matter of the mission in Iraq, the Minister of Transport said in the House on September 16, 2014: ...it is important for us to get as much information as we can from the government on what possibly can happen and how this mission can evolve. Clearly, this policy ceased to apply once he was in government.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the member is mistaken. The mission has changed. We have proof and information from abroad. Our troops are on the frontline and fighting the enemy. That is a change in mission. Why is the government hiding the truth? Why is it not being transparent with us? It keeps playing the same old broken record saying that we are advising or helping the Kurds, but we know that is not true.