44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 10, 2024 02:00PM
- Apr/10/24 5:36:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we come in here and listen to the member for Winnipeg North drone on and on, and he is loud. I live next door to him, and I know that his political epitaph is going to say that no member has ever spoken so much and said so little. That is a reality we are dealing with.
There is lots to chew on with all of the misinformation that was in the member's comments just now. First of all, he wanted to reflect on F-35s. The Liberals do not get to take credit for the F-35s, when they sidelined it in 2010. It was the Prime Minister, in his campaign of 2015, who said he would never buy the F-35. Guess what? The F-35 was the correct plane to buy. We applaud the government for finally coming to its senses and getting the right plane, 10 years too late. It wasted billions of dollars on buying used, rusted-out jets from Australia that are still not flying today, and we do not have pilots, because of the retention and recruitment crisis right now caused by the Liberals.
The member wants to talk about votes. In 2014 and 2015, when he was a member of the third party, he voted against Operation Unifier. Let us also remember that with respect to salaries, we voted against them because we lost confidence in the government and there was not enough money for our troops, because now they are lined up at food banks.
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- Apr/10/24 5:37:50 p.m.
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I try not to cut off members because I do want to get their questions and comments out there, but let us be reasonable in the amount of time we are taking to ask and answer questions, because we do get long answers as well.
The hon. parliamentary secretary.
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- Apr/10/24 5:38:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member talks about the F-35. “We wanted the F-35 when Stephen Harper was the prime minister”, is what he was saying, “but it is not our fault; it is the Liberal Party's fault. It did not allow us to buy the F-35s.”
Now the Liberals are in government. We voted to put in a proper tendering process, and the F-35 is now going to be on its way because there is a competent government that truly cares about the Canadian Forces today, compared to a Conservative government that liked to talk about it. However, the Conservatives' actions speak louder than words, and all one needs to do is reflect back to the days in which the member was the parliamentary secretary to the minister of defence when its budget was borderline 1% of Canada's GDP. I would suggest that the member needs to reflect on that government's poor performance. I would contrast it with ours any day, with regard to the Canadian Forces.
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- Apr/10/24 5:39:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, even though I only had the pleasure of hearing the second part of it, since we were called back to the House at the last minute.
The minister just tabled an update of Canada's defence policy, which will invest $8 billion over the next five years. Most of that money will be invested in the final part of those five years, however. In the first part, the investment will be much lower. We are also being told that the $900 million in cuts announced in September will not be reversed. This works out to roughly the same thing, considering what will happen in the first few years.
We heard military personnel complain a lot about these cuts and say that they were the first victims of penny-pinching. That is more or less what this motion touches on when it talks about military personnel, who are the first victims of the federal government's penny-pinching at their expense.
I would like to know whether the member thinks the government is sending the wrong message by saying that it is going to increase the defence budget but not reverse the cuts, which were made primarily at the expense of military personnel, even though it hopes to improve personnel retention and recruitment in the future, given that our national security depends on it.
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- Apr/10/24 5:40:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important, when we think of our Canadian Forces, that a long-term, multi-year budget come forward to ultimately deal with a great deal of the concerns members of the forces have and to provide reassurances. That is why I would refer the member to the release we put out last week, which literally, on a number of points, makes substantial commitments to build upon our Canadian Forces, so that it is good for us not only here in Canada but also abroad by meeting our international commitments. It also adds a great deal of value with respect to our Canadian manufacturing capabilities.
That is not something that is going to take place overnight, but it would take place over the next number of years. At least, it is a commitment that I believe will go a long way to providing stability and allowing members of the Canadian Forces to continue the fine work they are doing today.
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- Apr/10/24 5:41:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this report, the eighth report, is the report the NDP commissioned. It calls on the government to cancel all plans to increase rents for military accommodations.
I just tried to get unanimous consent to get this report adopted. It was not the Liberals, the members of the Bloc Québécois or the independents saying no. It was the Conservatives who said no to the very report they are presenting. Therefore, if they refused to have the report adopted, this is obviously a procedural technique to block the important debate on pharmacare that the NDP initiated, which was on the Order Paper today.
Does my colleague find it reprehensible that Conservatives are blocking the adoption of the report, which would lead to cancelling those rent increases? Why are they blocking this important debate on pharmacare that will help millions of Canadians?
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Mr. Speaker, I can tell the member that the Minister of Health was prepared today to deliver a very important speech on Bill C-64, on pharmacare, and members of the Conservative Party knew that.
I have introduced petition after petition on the importance of pharmacare for a number of years now. I have been advocating very strongly for it. As the House leader of the New Democratic Party has articulated, literally millions of Canadians are going to benefit from a national pharmacare program, and this is just another piece of legislation the Conservatives want to play games with. They have no intention of making life easier for Canadians. Their sole focus is on developing bumper stickers for the next election, which is very sad to see.
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- Apr/10/24 5:43:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since 2014, Canada has had the third-largest increase in defence spending and ranks sixth among the 32 NATO countries. Recently, we announced that we are going to invest $8.1 billion over the next five years and increase it to about $73 billion over the next 20 years.
I would like to ask the member if he can touch upon the recent announcement we made, where we said we are going to invest $295 million into the Canadian Armed Forces housing strategy to build new housing as well as to rehabilitate the existing housing stock. We also announced about $497 million for the electronic health records of the Canadian Armed Forces. Can he touch upon the recent announcement we made that refers to these increases to improve the strength of the Canadian Armed Forces?
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- Apr/10/24 5:44:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me take one component of what the member referenced. When we think of defending Canada over the next 20 years, think in terms of specialized maritime sensors, $1.4 billion; satellite ground station, $222 million; and tactical helicopters, $8.4 billion. There is a great deal of money being invested in the Canadian Forces for domestic and international roles, very critical roles that we play. There is a genuine commitment to get us up to 1.7% or 1.8% of Canada's GDP. I think we are doing, overall, reasonably well.
At the end of the day, members should give the proposed 20-year plan within the budget a serious look and get behind it. If they support the Canadian Forces, as they like to say they do, then they should be supporting some of the initiatives, getting behind them and voting. That includes family members or, more specifically, members of the forces. Members should not do what the Conservatives did last fall, when they literally voted against increases in the salaries of members of our Canadian Forces. They intentionally chose to do that.
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- Apr/10/24 5:46:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all I would ask the member is this: Is it true that in the budget, there will be $2.7 billion less spending on defence over the next three years, yes or no?
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- Apr/10/24 5:46:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the good news is that next week we are going to get the budget. The member will have ample opportunity to peruse it. There are a lot of good things in there for Canadians. We understand the many benefits and issues around affordability that are so important to all Canadians.
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- Apr/10/24 5:46:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion, that notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practices of the House, that the motion to concur in the eighth report of the Standing Committee on National Defence, presented on Monday, February 26, be deemed adopted and—
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- Apr/10/24 5:47:22 p.m.
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I am already hearing a number of noes.
The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby is rising on a point of order.
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- Apr/10/24 5:47:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Conservatives have said no twice now to adopting the report.
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- Apr/10/24 5:47:38 p.m.
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That is not a point of order.
The hon. member for Regina—Lewvan.
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- Apr/10/24 5:47:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we might actually listen to a unanimous consent motion from the NDP House leader if he had any honour to follow through on some of his promises.
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- Apr/10/24 5:47:54 p.m.
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We are getting into debate once again.
The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay on a point of order.
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- Apr/10/24 5:47:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has been so difficult to follow. My understanding was that the Conservatives refused to support our work on helping the military, but there was so much chaos in the House that I am wondering whether the hon. member from Burnaby he could repeat so we can have it on the record.
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- Apr/10/24 5:48:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I do think it is important for the House to understand this very clearly. For all Canadians watching, the Conservatives did say no twice to our veterans—
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- Apr/10/24 5:48:31 p.m.
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That is descending into debate.
The hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman.
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