SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 304

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 29, 2024 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 304 - Apr/29/24
Ms. Yvonne Jones (Labrador, Lib.)
  • Apr/29/24 2:02:00 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the historic investments for national defence in budget 2024. These allocations strengthen our armed forces, confront global complexities and safeguard our nation's security and sovereignty, with special focus on national defence in the Arctic. It also marks a significant increase in defence spending, ramping up over the next few years to 1.76% of our GDP by 2030. Under previous Conservative administrations, neglect left our military under-resourced and ill-prepared. Budget cuts hindered our ability to protect our interests, particularly in strategic regions across the north. However, under our Liberal government's leadership, we are rectifying these shortcomings. These investments are aimed to bolster our defence capabilities, and our focus on defending the Arctic underscores our commitment to securing our northern frontier and ensuring Canada's safety and prosperity amid evolving security threats. These investments are critical for shaping Canada's future and those of the people of the Arctic.
159 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 304 - Apr/29/24
Mr. Kevin Vuong (Spadina—Fort York, Ind.)
  • Apr/29/24 8:23:52 p.m.
  • Watch
Madam Speaker, Canadians are struggling to find a home. This includes the brave men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces. This is why, on April 10, I pointed out to the government that its new defence policy for Canada, entitled “Our North, Strong and Free”, is just the latest in a long list of Liberal smoke and mirrors. I do not think it is a coincidence that this policy rightfully abbreviates into NSF, which Canadians increasingly know of late also means “non-sufficient funds”. That is because this pretend policy starts out with insufficient funds. In fact, it provides zero dollars in 2024. There will be nothing for tactical helicopters, nothing for maritime sensors and nothing for badly needed military housing. On this latter item, perhaps it is just the Liberal way of making sure our military does not feel left out from the very same experience that many Canadians are struggling with, which is the inability to find a home, all under the government's watch. If that is not enough for this farcical defence policy, it is spread out over 20 years, two decades. I hope Canada does not need any defending during this period. I just do not get it. Do the Liberals not care? We have CAF members who have to line up at food banks to ensure they do not go hungry. We have CAF members who have to sleep in tents because they cannot afford rent. These should be red flags. Instead, the Liberals continue to bury their heads in the sand, providing literally nothing for military housing while we are in the midst of a very real housing crisis. In my initial question, I asked if the Prime Minister was aware that the government's facade policy would keep CAF personnel and their families in tents for years. I hope the parliamentary secretary can provide some insight this evening on the rationale for why the Prime Minister has allocated zero dollars for military housing in 2024 and 2025, because the Minister of National Defence's response to my question was ludicrous. The Minister of National Defence had the audacity to offer to send me a copy of the new defence policy because he was concerned I may not have read it. I wonder if the minister has. I am happy to personally chip in if he needs a new pair of reading glasses, because it is clear he has trouble seeing the funding table on page 30, which clearly shows zero dollars for military housing. He classified the policy with a straight face as “a historic investment in new capabilities”. Well, it is historic, all right. It is historic that any government in the midst of a housing crisis would allocate a historic zero dollars for two years while we have men and women sleeping in tents. Just in case the parliamentary secretary has not had a chance, like the minister, to read the policy, I would like to tell him more about the historic investments: zero dollars for maintaining national defence infrastructure, zero dollars for civilian capacity, zero dollars for housing in 2024 and 2025, zero dollars for tactical helicopters, zero dollars for satellite communications, zero dollars for enhancing our long-range missile capabilities, zero dollars for maritime sensors, zero dollars for airborne early warning aircraft, zero dollars for satellite ground station this year and next year, and zero dollars for northern operational support hubs. I would like to ask the parliamentary secretary to explain to me and, more importantly, to explain to Canadians how she can invest in anything with zero dollars.
608 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border