Senator Martin: Additionally, a briefing note from military chaplains made public last month said the high cost of living, staff shortages and changes to the Post-Living Differential have resulted in “. . . many CAF leaders and members feeling more undervalued and underappreciated than at any point in recent memory.”

Minister, this is happening on the Trudeau government’s watch. What is your plan to improve such low morale?

I honestly believe that the real answer for this is more housing. That’s the work that we’re undertaking now to identify those opportunities that do exist for our bases right across the country, to create more housing that will be affordable and accessible to more members of the service.

[Translation]

Hon. Bill Blair, P.C., M.P., Minister of National Defence: Thank you very much for the question. Providing support to military families is one of the most important things we need to do in order to improve the retention of the talent that we have and recruit new people into our organization.

I have travelled to the bases, and at every place I go, I try to spend time with the men and women who work there to give them an opportunity, first of all, to talk about the work that they are so proud of but also about some of the challenges they are facing. And, like in many parts of the country, I am hearing clearly that Canadian Armed Forces members are struggling with access to affordable housing, and that becomes a real priority. Although we have a budget of $55 million, it is not nearly enough to respond to what I believe to be almost a 7,000-housing unit deficit for the Canadian Armed Forces.

As I have been travelling to each of those bases, I also see the local municipality and work with the mayors. I have gone to the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities. As you are aware, the government is making significant investment in housing acceleration across the country, and I want to ensure that it also deals with the housing deficit that exists for our Canadian Armed Forces members.

We have also made significant investments across the country in child care. That is another huge challenge for military families, and so we have been providing money to the provinces, but the provinces don’t necessarily see it as their responsibility to support Armed Forces members and their families. I want to make sure that that investment is reflected in the provision of those important services to Canadian Armed Forces members.

Hon. Kim Pate: Welcome. Thank you for joining us today, Minister Blair. For decades, as you know, governments have pointed to the need to address violence against women as an impetus for criminal legislation that too often results in making sentences longer, harsher and more punitive. These approaches have not meaningfully prevented violence against women, including in the military.

What concrete measures has the government taken to implement the Calls for Justice of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry, as well as the recommendations of the Mass Casualty Commission and the Arbour report on sexual misconduct in the military? How will the government seek to address and redress the root causes of violence against women? What is the timeline for the full implementation of these recommendations?

Hon. Bill Blair, P.C., M.P., Minister of National Defence: The letter we received from the Treasury Board clearly indicated there was to be no impact on Canadian Armed Forces’ capabilities, or to the support that we provide to military families. One of the things that I have directed is looking at our administrative processes — the professional services that we contract for, executive travel and such things as consultation reports. I think it is incumbent upon every department of government to make sure that they’re spending Canadian taxpayers’ dollars well, and that they are as efficient as possible. I’ve also been discussing investments that we can make in efficiency and savings with the Department of National Defence.