National Defence  Mr. Speaker, Canada currently does not participate in the ballistic missile defence. No decision has been made to change this policy. Through the defence policy review, the government is consulting Canadians on a wide range of defence-related issues in an open and transparent m

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the government wants to ensure that Canada and North America are well defended from all threats. We want to make sure that the defence review is open and wide. By not opening up the discussion on ballistic missile defence and allowing Canadians to have a say in this

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member, as I did my critic some time ago, that the only cuts to the budget happened during the Conservative government, some $3 billion. We have actually increased the planned spending with $360 million for the operational budget, plus

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to making sure that our men and women have the capabilities for the missions of the future. The defence review is a wonderful process to allow all Canadians to have a voice in where the military needs to go. We are committed to replacing o

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, I find it very ironic that just yesterday all members of Parliament stood together at an important event and I stood up and said that all members of the House who are sitting and standing there support the military. To hear this in the House is actually quite insul

Search and Rescue  Mr. Speaker, the previous government might have been looking at privatizing search and rescue, but I can assure the member that this government is not, because the Canadian Armed Forces play a critical role in search and rescue.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his concern for the well-being of our troops. I can assure the member that our troops in Iraq have full air support when needed. In fact, we have done a thorough assessment. I talk to the chief of the defence staff on a regular basis about th

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member can keep talking in terms of the definitions of war, but our fight against ISIL does not change in any way. We will take every action with our coalition partners to defeat Daesh, and we are not going to give ISIL legitimacy by calling them a state, by

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the only attack on our troops was the $3 billion that were cut by the previous government, starting in 2012. We have re-profiled our money for when our major acquisitions will be needed. We have increased the operational budget by $360 million, and we added another $

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, regrettably, I was travelling in Ukraine and Poland, visiting our troops when the attack happened. One of the first places I went was actually to visit the recruiting centre. I was briefed personally that measures had been taken from incidents in the past. I got to

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, I think we can agree that we all agree on defeating ISIL and we just have a difference of opinion on how it is going to be done. I took the time to talk to the troops. I have talked to the commanders on the ground. I do have, actually, considerable experience in fi

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the Government of Canada’s decision to end the conduct of airstrikes has been communicated to Canada’s coalition partners and the Governments of Iraq and Kuwait. Moreover, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, DND/CAF,

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, I think we can agree that ISIL is a horrible threat. However, we have a difference of opinion on how we will achieve the defeat of this horrible entity. In order to do this, and from our experience, it will have to happen on the ground. To achieve the outcome, we n

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, as we clearly stated about our plan for the mission in Iraq, it was not just to take it into Iraq itself. We were taking a reasoned approach, and that was why it was a comprehensive plan. I am glad the member listened to my statements in the Senate, because he woul

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, our government and our security forces will always look at threats around the world, not just Lybia and other places. This is what responsible security forces do, and we will continue to do that. I will look forward to all those conversations I will have with my cou