44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2024 10:00AM
- 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 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 7:14:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I like the member, but quite frankly, I am concerned when he talks about what a future Conservative government will do.
We saw what the Conservatives did for veterans. They closed about 20 offices that provided services to veterans. People had to drive hundreds of kilometres to get any kind of service. The Conservatives cut services for veterans. They treated veterans with a total lack of respect. I have a lot of respect for the member, but quite frankly, we saw the contempt with which the Conservatives treated veterans under the Harper regime.
The Conservatives treated veterans terribly under the Harper regime. Can the member explain how the Conservatives will in any way treat veterans better if ever they take office?
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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 7:59:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I asked earlier and I just want an answer. What would the Conservatives do in terms of offering a plan?
We want to work with the Conservatives on this to ensure that we build housing for military personnel and their families and, of course, for those who have served, our veterans, whom we are always indebted to for the remainder of their lives. Does my colleague suggest an idea or a plan that he would like to present or discuss in the House that we could possibly work together on?
We would like to see public lands kept in public hands. Those public lands should absolutely be prioritized for military personnel, veterans and indigenous peoples. Does my colleague agree with that?
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- May/2/24 8:01:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as we gather here in the House, I would like to take the opportunity to paint a picture of the issue brought forth by the Conservative shadow minister for national defence concerning the recent rent increase in military housing.
Imagine a brave active military member serving at the arms depot in Dundurn or at 15 Wing air base in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Military members serve this country proudly and have faith that the government is working cohesively to fight the affordability crisis. Just with that thought, their military housing rent goes up, along with the carbon tax.
I am disappointed that we need to have this debate today. Military housing in an opportunity for serving members to be able to afford a place to live despite their salaries being too low and the cost of living being too high. We, as a government, should be prepared to provide them accommodations that reflect their sacrifices.
The cost of living crisis is hurting everyone, and the brave people who serve in our Canadian Armed Forces are no exception. It is a fact that the high cost of living has brought stress upon Canadians above all other issues, and our brave men and women are not exempt from this. We need to be more mindful of the negative impacts this stress can have on their work, thereby impacting the security of our country. We need to look at this from a holistic point of view and understand the required synergies, or basic needs, for our military personnel to function best.
Sitting on the veterans affairs committee, I have heard far too many stories about our heroes, who are serving or have served, struggling to get by and often ignored by the government, which says they are asking for too much. This is certainly not a good reflection at all and does not create an incentive for people to join the military, especially at a time when recruitment is facing record lows that are dangerous to the sustainability of defending our nation. It has been noted as a death spiral.
Instead of retaining the fighter training program here in Canada, the Liberal government recently exported our fighter pilot training program to some of our allies. This affects Moose Jaw and Cold Lake. The government has sent our military members to Italy, Finland, Australia and the U.S.
The government has added insult to injury, where we have lost training placements that are normally reserved for Canadians in the NATO jet training program down in the U.S. This is seriously reducing the capability of training our front line fighter pilots to defend our borders, leaving our northern airspace vulnerable.
Whether one is serving or has served, it is clear that the Liberal government has ignored the importance of putting personnel first.
Earlier this week, a veterans advocate spoke to our committee, sharing her thoughts on veterans homelessness. Rima Aristocrat said, “I cannot find any excuse, and I believe each and every one of you will say the same. There is no excuse. For somebody who gives us the life we have here, liberty and freedom we are so proud of. It did not come by itself. That took a lot of sacrifice, people's sacrifice.... Their families are unsung heroes. They sacrificed so much with them. And what do we do? Once a year we say thank you to them.... How about the rest of the time when they cannot afford to pay rent? How about the time when they cannot feed or clothe their children? How about the time we have to pick up homeless veterans from the street freezing there? There's no excuse for it. Our country is too great. We are too powerful. We are too kind to let this happen”.
Ms. Aristocrat, along with others, recognize the financial desperation our military members and veterans are experiencing. It is a truly heartbreaking situation when those who fought for our country and saw their friends and comrades make the ultimate sacrifice are left behind or are unable to get by. Today, we are talking about how those who are currently serving are being squeezed.
I was shocked to see that, on April 1, the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force, a day which we should be celebrating, not only did the government hike its inflationary carbon tax, but it also raised the rent for our military personnel. What kind of thanks for their service is that?
Recently, the military ombudsman appeared at the national defence committee talking about this issue. He said that it would be “tone deaf” for the government to increase rent on the Canadian Armed Forces at a time when we hear of them struggling to find proper accommodations and make ends meet. However, that is exactly what we have come to expect from the current government: tone-deaf policies.
Liberals see people struggling to feed and house their families and decide that they still need to raise the carbon tax. Only when their east coast members' seats are in jeopardy do they decide to provide a small bit of relief from this tax grab. I am sure those residents are happy, but when Saskatchewan argues that the same policy should be fairly applied to all Canadians, the Prime Minister decides to have the province audited by the CRA. Again, we have tone-deaf policies from the government.
Our military personnel in Dundurn, Moose Jaw, and those serving coast to coast to coast should have all the possible support they need to keep our country safe and prosperous. We are too kind a nation to allow the military members I mentioned before, who are fighting for their country bravely, to suffer alone in this housing crisis and be seen as another source of an increase in revenue for the government rather than a vital part of our country's defence.
The Liberal government's track record, whether it is national defence, supporting our veterans or building homes, is a complete failure. Liberal promises are like unicorns. They are not real; they are just fairy tales. Once again, I urge the government to come back to the real world, to wake up, to do what is right and to roll back this rent increase to ease the cost of living crisis for those brave people who put their lives at risk for us.
In closing, I would like to take a quick moment to thank a young lady, Lora Laleva, who helped me write this speech. She is a young lady who believes in this country. She was sitting in this gallery earlier today and sat in the gallery all day yesterday, listening to our democratic process. I met with her, brought her to the office and said, “I want to see what you are capable of.” That young lady is going to be a future leader in this country, and we need to provide an opportunity for people like her to live in a prosperous nation.
It is time to axe the tax. It is time to roll back the rent increase on our military personnel. It is time to send the right message to the people of this great nation that we live in that there is hope and opportunity for the next generation.
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- May/2/24 8:11:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his service to our country as an officer in the Canadian Air Force. His office is right across the hall from mine, so we spend a lot of time together, and I appreciate his work.
We know that no veteran should be living on the street. Someone who has served our country should not be homeless. We know that 67% of homeless people in my community of Port Alberni are indigenous. As my colleague from Churchill—Keewatinook Aski just raised, even if we were to double indigenous housing right now there would still not be enough housing to house indigenous people. That is absolutely shameful in a country like ours.
I have talked about, and the government talks about this in its budget, using public lands, but they have to be in public hands. It should prioritize military personnel, veterans and indigenous peoples.
I asked this question earlier, and a Conservative colleague said Conservatives were waiting until their platform gets rolled out in the next election. I get stuff done here all the time. I am not waiting for the next election to get things done. I think we can work together now. I do not think we can wait until an election next year.
I am putting my hand out and extending an olive branch to my colleague in the hope that he will work with me to put pressure on the government to do the right thing when it comes to public lands and getting our priorities in order. Will my colleague accept that olive branch instead of waiting until an election is called?
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- May/2/24 8:14:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have not had a chance to work with the colleague opposite. I want to thank him for his service to this country.
I have been here nine years this fall, and I think I have developed a reputation in the House for not taking personal potshots. I do not heckle. I work across the aisle. I think everyone who has worked with me knows that.
When we talk about our military and talk about veterans, I think we almost all agree in the House that we need to support them. However, here we are having a debate, and included as part of that debate are personal potshots. Imagine what we could do for those same people who we all claim to love if we worked together. It is a crazy idea, I know, but that is what they want us to do. They do not care if it is a Liberal government. They do not care if it is a Conservative government. What they care about is that we work together for them because they are there to defend us.
Does the member opposite agree? I look forward to working with him on a defence file. Does he agree that it is time to put away the partisanship and work together for our Canadian Armed Forces?
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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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