44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2024 10:00AM
- May/2/24 6:43:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the member who just spoke has a scintilla of conviction in what she just said about the lack of funding for the military, why is she going to be voting in favour of the budget and propping up the government that has nothing but disdain for our troops?
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- May/2/24 6:48:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am so incredibly proud to stand here as the representative of 19 Wing and speak to this issue that profoundly matters, which is housing for the folks who serve us in the military, for those who serve us so bravely, not only in Canada, but also across the whole world.
Today, this is a concurrence motion. We could talk about the political reasons that it was used, but this one was based on a study, a motion, that just said, “Given that, rent for Canadian military personnel living on bases is increasing this April, at a time when the military is struggling to recruit and retain personnel, the committee report to the House, that the government immediately cancel all plans to increase rent on military accommodations used by the Department of National Defence.” That is the report, that one part there.
Therefore, I am here to talk about it. This is a concern for my riding. I have had a lot of time to talk to the wing commander about this issue, and I really want to thank him for his incredible work. He will only be with us until July, and I have really enjoyed working with Colonel Gagnon.
My concern is very clear. I am going to talk about 19 Wing Comox, which is on the territory of the K'ómoks First Nation, and I really appreciate the work that is happening there to build a relationship between those two organizations.
We know that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation recently let us know that the rental vacancy rate for Comox is at a low of 1.4%. Of course, when one has that kind of low rental rate, one also recognizes that we have some of the highest costs of housing in our region as well. The people who are coming to our area, who are recruited into our area and who are serving in our military, are often in a very vulnerable position. That is very concerning to me.
I think it is really important for all of us, as Canadians, to understand that they need to be close to the base, because when they are called, they cannot drive two hours from their homes to get there for what they are required to do. Especially for somebody at a more entry level, the cost of rent and of housing is becoming so burdensome. We know that a healthy rental market requires vacancy rates that are between 3% to 5%, and we know that the housing on the base is simply not enough.
We are very proud in our riding, at the base there, that we have the search and rescue training facility. It has been a huge benefit to our community. We see folks from all over the country coming to get training at that facility. They are trained by some of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life, who are able to go out in dire circumstances and to save people, rescuing them from things that most of us would run away from as quickly as we possibly could. I am really happy that it is there.
They also built accommodations for the people coming to get the training, and that was very frustrating for me because I was hearing stories from so many of our serving members who could not find anywhere to live. They saw this facility built, and only people who were training were able to stay there.
Nobody begrudges that. We want to make sure that when people come and get trained, they have appropriate housing. That makes sense. However, If they do not have somewhere for the people who live there to stay, it becomes this issue of challenge that I do not think any of us want to see because everybody involved is there to train and to serve our country.
I do know, based on some conversations I have had, that some of those units have now gone permanently to people who are serving at the base, just because there is just not enough.
Again, when we ask people to serve, when they have to move from one part of the country to another part of the country, and when it costs a lot and there is nothing affordable for them to live in, we are really deterring people from providing the service that we need.
It reminds me of something I heard from the CAF ombud, Gregory Lick, at one of the national defence committees. He said to those of us who were there that how we are treating our military families is becoming an “issue of national security”. This is very concerning. This is not a direct quote, but it was similar, a paraphrase. When he said that, I thought that was great and that the whole world was going to hear it. Canada would hear that and think about what we could do differently. I just did not see the response. I have not seen it from the Liberal government, and I did not seen it, quite frankly, from the Conservative government before.
We are really underfunding the men and women who serve us. We have to make sure they have the equipment they need to do their jobs. We need to make sure they have the housing they need, and we need to support the family. When we hear things like this, it really does tell us that we need to start looking at this.
The housing needs report issued in May 2020 by the Town of Comox indicated that it was going to need 7,665 unit by 2025 to meet its needs. That is next year, and we are nowhere near that. A lot of our serving members are the people who rely on that housing.
I have written letters. I have talked to the minister about this issue. I hope he will come out and meet with me in my riding to hear the stories of our serving men and women. They need the housing and that stability. When we look at the number of people recruited into our military, we are seeing the numbers start to go down. I think part of the reason is there is not any safety of housing for people. At the beginning, military members are not making as much money, so if they are spending 60% of their income on housing, how do they fulfill their dreams in the military?
One thing I appreciate so much about representing Comox and 19 Wing is their incredible work. The folks who serve in our military, they not only do great at their work, but also do volunteer work and do great things in our community. I also want to recognize that it is the 100-year anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force. That is something we should all recognize in our communities and be grateful for the amazing people who do this tremendous work.
The Comox Valley Air Force Museum has been working so hard. It has a beautiful spot right by the base, where tourists come to look at planes from different wars and different times throughout the air force's history. It is a beautiful place. A lot of people go to see it, and during the Christmas season, it is decorated with lights and is quite dynamic.
In 2001, I believe, 19 Wing received a Vampire. It is a beautiful plane that is an artifact, and it is made out of wood. It has a great history, and it is so important for the Royal Canadian Air Force. We want to make sure it is displayed with the other planes. I want to thank David Mellin, who has been such an asset for me; he has kept me updated. I thank the amazing volunteers at the Comox Valley Air Force Museum who are working so hard.
The museum is raising $1 million to build a pavilion, which is basically a display case, that would surround this wooden airplane and would allow it to be accessible and to be seen outside with the other planes that can weather the beautiful Vancouver Island rainy weather. I certainly hope the government finds it in its heart to find a bit of money to support this, to recognize the 100 years of service and to recognize 19 Wing and all the tremendous work it does.
I thank my constituents, especially those who serve our country, for the great work they do and for continuing to educate me. However, what we really need to see is money for housing. We need money for housing on bases so that people can have a safe, affordable place to call home, so when they serve our country, they have that stability. If we do not do that, we are going to see fewer people offering to do this tremendously important work.
I look forward to answering some questions.
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- May/2/24 6:58:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot say enough about how hard working my colleague from North Island—Powell River is, and I will mention the advocating she has done for veterans and for the people at 19 Wing in Comox. I also represent Courtenay in the Comox Valley, where many military veterans and military personnel live. I also represent the CFMETR navy base at Nanoose. From all of us, I want to thank all those who serve, and their families. I think we can all agree that we appreciate the work they do.
Ombud Lick highlighted, in his report, the serious situation that the military is facing. He cited that how we treat military families and military personnel is “an issue of national security”. We know, during the decade under the Conservatives, that there were cuts and that the treatment of our military and of veterans was appalling.
I hope my colleague can speak about how the government has also failed and how we need to urgently repair the damage done to those military personnel and their families, and speak about how we owe it to them to ensure they have a safe place to live.
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- May/2/24 6:59:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I really enjoy sharing a border with the member, and we work together collaboratively on all the issues that face the military folks in our region, because it is really important.
It is important for us, as Canadians, to understand what our military does, the great work it does both nationally and internationally, and to understand that, if we do not start looking at military as a whole family, like Ombud Lick said, we could get to a point where we do not have enough people to serve our country. It could very quickly become an issue of national security.
It includes housing and includes working with families. We know a lot of spouses really have a challenging time moving from place to place and keeping their seniority in the work they do. We have to look at what military families need and do much better by them.
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- May/2/24 7:01:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am the spokesperson on the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, and one of the things we just finished studying and we are now working on the report for is around women veterans. It was so interesting to hear from them about when they had that moment of making the decision to stay or to leave and what the impacts were.
One of the things I have had frank conversations about is the fact that we are not back in the fifties or the forties anymore. It is a totally different world. We need both people in the family working to sustain ourselves, so how do we make sure both people have an opportunity? Child care comes up and housing comes up. Things that matter to everyday Canadians matter to military people. Their work is very unique and we have to honour that and find ways to support them, and government needs to be a key part of that. If it is not, it is obviously never going to get done.
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- May/2/24 7:02:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by saying that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.
On page 17 of the defence policy update that was tabled a few weeks ago, it states, and I quote:
A career with the Canadian Armed Forces is a source of unique pride and confidence among those who have the privilege to serve. Defence will seek to inspire a wider audience of prospective members to consider the opportunity of a life in service to Canada.
Let us look at that excerpt in today's context. Unfortunately, it is fair to say that that is a farce. The people who read that are likely thinking, “Give me a break”.
Why am I saying that? I served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 22 years during a different time, and I can say that military service is a personal and family commitment. It is a commitment to wear a uniform, to wear the Canadian flag on one's shoulder and to serve one's government. Regardless of the party in power, when a person serves in the Canadian Armed Forces, they must be loyal to their government and they must respond to the orders they receive. It is a commitment unlike any other in a civilian job.
For that reason, the government has a major responsibility to its personnel. That is where we have a big problem right now. The purpose of today's debate is to talk about a report on a situation concerning the cost of housing on Canadian military bases. It is important to understand that large military bases across the country provide housing, known as Permanent Married Quarters, for military personnel. This could be apartments, semi-detached homes or single-family homes that military personnel can rent and live in, either on their own or with their families.
As I was saying, when someone signs up to serve their country, they come prepared to do what is asked of them. They are asked to deploy. They are posted somewhere in the country on a military base and they have go. They go wherever they are told to go, with their family.
This country now has a big problem. First, the cost of military housing on base has increased. Apart from that, however, at least 4,500 military personnel and their families are without housing because of shortages. Not only are the bases short on housing, but 20% of the existing stock is in disrepair. There are mould problems. No one can live there. No one wants to bring a wife and children into these buildings. They could get sick. That is outrageous.
The housing shortage is also exacerbating the situation. We are asking our military personnel to find housing in the civilian community. As everyone knows, costs have gone up. Royal Canadian Navy personnel are being told they will be stationed in Halifax or in Esquimalt, on the west coast. They do not have much choice. When they get to Esquimalt, there is no housing on the base. Where do they go? They look for something in or around Victoria. That is not affordable on a military salary.
Yes, there are cost-of-living allowances, but those allowances do not come close to covering today's housing costs. That is why some of our personnel are sleeping in tents or in their car. I am not making this up; these are facts reported by the Canadian Armed Forces ombudsman. There are even some in Halifax who are forced to deal with unscrupulous people as they search for housing or do things that are not necessarily legal, because they do not know what else to do. They have to somehow find a way to keep a roof over their heads.
This has been going on for the nine years this government has been in office. We always seem to hear the same fine words about how the military is important and they are proud of our military personnel. However, when we look at the reality, in some cases, the government cannot even do the minimum. As I was saying, the minimum is to provide a living environment that is part of military life, which is very different from civilian life, especially given the way military personnel have to be deployed or posted. That environment has to be there. Without that kind of environment, we end up with a situation like the one we are in today, where the Canadian Armed Forces are 16,000 members short. People are leaving in droves. Everyone is leaving, and no one wants in.
Young people today do not want to join the Canadian Armed Forces because they have heard the horror stories about the lack of housing and the lack of equipment. Fifty percent of the Canadian Armed Forces' equipment is broken and non-operational. They do not get the sense that the current government really cares about the military.
Lip service is one thing. How we deal with this issue is another. Right now, people are turning their backs on the Canadian Armed Forces. At the beginning of my speech, I mentioned the fabled phrase in the government's update. It talks about pride and happiness. That is baloney, because I have never seen military personnel less well taken care of.
It has been over 30 years since I enlisted. Morale is at a 30- or 40-year low. Members of the military I know who are still in the system, as well as those who have just left or who have left in the past few years, are all saying the same thing. There are a number of reasons for this. Housing is one reason, but it is not the only reason. The work environment is no longer appealing, and the pride we talked about at the beginning is gone. It is not because people do not want to be proud. When people enlist, that is what they are looking for. They want to be part of this big family, this big defence team that is there to protect Canada's interests at home and abroad. That is the job in a nutshell. We cannot ask a soldier or a young officer to come into the system and end up in situations like this.
I do not want to get too personal, but I just wanted to say that my son is in the armed forces and he is going through truly outrageous experiences. I see what is happening and we are just in a different place. Unfortunately, if we do not help out, young people are going to quit and move on. People in the army call it “being in the system”. I have to say that the system is no longer there. The system has lost its purpose, and that is why we are short 16,000 military members and why Canada is unable to carry out its missions. Canada looks like a bit player on the world stage.
Yesterday, during a meeting about NORAD, the Minister of National Defence was very honest; I will give him that. NORAD is the organization responsible for the aerospace and maritime defence of Canada and the United States. Canada needs to strengthen its defence capabilities because we know that the Chinese and the Russians are trying to enter Canadian waters by air and by sea. We must watch and protect those areas. During this public meeting, the minister said that he was unable to convince his cabinet colleagues to do more for defence. In saying that, the minister admitted that this was not just a matter of money but, rather, a lack of real political will to help our military. Fine words mean nothing. The facts are there. We heard the real story from the mouth of the Minister of National Defence himself. He said that his own people did not want to. They do not care. Nothing is going to improve for the Canadian Armed Forces with a Prime Minister who does not send a clear, strong message.
Money is one thing, political will is another. When it comes to pride, it is clear that our military is always able to hold its own. They are proud people at heart. They want to serve proudly. When a government can show that there is political will, when a government says it is really proud of its forces and is making efforts to effect change, soldiers adapt and co-operate. Conversely, when they feel there is no political will, they lose morale and get discouraged. I experienced that in the 1990s under the Chrétien government. The Canadian Forces were a laughing stock. Vehicles could not climb hills. Everything was in shambles. In times like that, military personnel need to be self-motivated. They need a government that does not just talk the talk with defence updates but actually shows up to take care of its people. We need to stop paying lip service and start taking concrete action.
Budget cuts are happening throughout the Canadian Armed Forces, and we found out today that Canadian soldiers are going to be deployed to eastern Europe without going through training first. That is how bad things are. Our soldiers cannot even be trained before they leave for a mission because the government is no longer capable of doing it and is not managing things properly. What we want is personnel who are ready for combat, who are ready to safeguard national security. However, we need to begin by figuring out how to put a roof over our soldiers' heads. Canada, as a country, is currently unable to do so. That is embarrassing. I hope this government will use the time it has left to come up with solutions quickly.
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- May/2/24 7:15:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question, but today I am talking about those who are in it to fight.
Let us think about the Afghanistan era. When we were in government, our soldiers urgently needed proper equipment. The Conservative government was able to provide that equipment, purchase the planes to deploy the troops, and supply everything needed for ground combat in Afghanistan.
I was serving at the time, and we were proud to have a government that took military operations seriously and understood that soldiers were dying on the ground. In an emergency, the Conservative government acted quickly to help soldiers, and soldiers were proud at the time.
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- May/2/24 7:17:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. As I said in my speech, military personnel are in a controlled environment. The government has complete control over the environment. Then why is it that this government decided not to increase spending on military housing for its defence team?
At some point, if rents increase, salaries have to increase. If we can maintain the environment by keeping rents the same and providing normal salary increases, it creates less pressure for everyone. That could easily have been done.
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- May/2/24 7:52:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for advocating for military veterans and their families. It is greatly appreciated.
I want to go back to 2015. I recall knocking on doors and meeting military personnel living in the Comox Valley in my riding, and they could not find housing. People were struggling then.
It takes long-out planning and thought, and the Liberals have failed to do that. They inherited a failed plan or no plan, if one wants to call it that, when it comes to housing for military personnel.
Does my colleague regret that his government did not put more foresight into building housing units for military personnel? What would he do differently, moving forward, so that we could honour those people who are serving our country?
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- May/2/24 7:52:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will say that the government does not have a monopoly on non-investment in the forces. That is not to say I agree with the premise of his question. I would go back to a previous Liberal government. We had a decade of darkness. We had the Prime Minister's father, who decimated the military and really even firmly withdrew us from the orbit of the western defence system. If we want to keep going back in time, I guess we can, but I am going to focus on the government that is here.
I came here in 2015 when the current government was elected, and it has systematically ignored national defence and national security. It is about time that we had a government that takes these things seriously, becomes a meaningful and willing ally to our alliance, takes our national defence seriously and stands by our troops.
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- May/2/24 8:12:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge my colleague from across the hallway. We have had some great chats walking to our offices. I do not think we have ever shared a coffee or a donut, but that could happen.
I was thinking about the question the member posed to my colleague earlier on. One thing I have noticed is that there is a cyclical problem that happens. What happens is this: A Liberal government comes into power and creates a problem. It reduces the money spent on the military. Then Conservatives come along and invest, but it takes a long time to dig ourselves out of the hole it has put us into.
I would ask my colleague to recognize that Conservatives have always put the military first, that we care about those personnel and that we care about the defence of our country. When in power, we would deliver on the promises we are making right now.
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- May/2/24 8:18:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will never not take the opportunity to again stand up for military families, the important role they play and the important work they do. We all owe them a ton of gratitude.
A report that just came out from the ombudsman made it very clear that it is actually a national security threat that we do not take care of our military personnel. We need to really elevate the conversation, and we need the government to act.
One thing I continue to talk about is that one opportunity is using public lands and using them urgently. We have them at bases. We have them in communities right around our country. It actually would be prudent for the government to act on developing a plan and getting started right away to ensure that our military personnel have a safe and affordable place to live. They should be able to save money when they are in the military and actually put money aside for their retirement so they can have a good retirement. We want them to have a good retirement for the sacrifices they have made.
Does my colleague support using public lands for prioritizing military veterans, service members and their families?
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- May/2/24 8:19:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that on military bases, a lot of the housing is substandard. What I believe our party is asking for right now is upgrades, for the housing to be improved so people's quality of life is improved. It is not just military members living in these accommodations; their families are also living in them. While members are deployed overseas, there are plumbing issues, ceiling leaks and holes in the floors. There are all sorts of issues they are dealing with. It is just a recycled problem.
I know that my colleague recognizes that this affects not just the member serving but also the whole family whom they live with. When members are deployed, their concerns are increased, although their minds need to be on their job. They have a buddy system where other people's lives depend on them, and if they are not focused on the job, then people's lives are at risk because their families are at risk.
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