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House Hansard - 297

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 10, 2024 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 297 - Apr/10/24
Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Kingston and the Islands, Lib.)
  • Apr/10/24 4:52:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the problem with the member's assertion is that he is assuming that all military personnel want to live on the base. I can tell him that, when I was mayor of Kingston, every summer I would get together with the mayor of Watertown, which is right next to Fort Drum in the United States. The one thing the mayor of Watertown always talked about was how jealous he was, because Fort Drum was its own base with people living on it outside of Watertown and not really connected to the city. He would come to CFB Kingston and see the way it integrated so well into the community. When I was younger and in high school, all those in the military community lived around the base on the east side of Kingston. Now they live throughout the entire community. My kids quite often are coached on a team by a military spouse who has children on the same team. We get a certain level of integration when we encourage those in the military to live and participate in our community. I am wondering if the member can comment on whether he sees the benefit in that or if he thinks all military members should exclusively live on the base.
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