- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman
- Manitoba
- Voting Attendance: 68%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $140,796.07
- Government Page
- Apr/10/24 5:12:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we know that, back in the day, the time under Jean Chrétien and the Liberals was called the decade of darkness. I had a veteran tell me here the other day that, under the current Liberals, this has been a decade of disaster. When we were in government, never did anyone complain about housing, being unhoused or having to use food banks; that all happened under the Liberals' watch.
Does my colleague believe that the Minister of National Defence should actually roll back this rent increase on our troops, properly support them and house their families?
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- Apr/10/24 4:56:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will remind the member that, as the shadow minister for national defence for the Conservatives and vice-chair of the Standing Committee on National Defence, we are debating a motion now that came from the Standing Committee on National Defence. This is important. We are talking about how the housing crisis is impacting our troops. We are talking about a rate hike. The Liberals jacked up the rental rates on our troops, and that deserves to be debated here as well.
Although the committee is meeting right now and talking about housing, I thought it was important today, pretty much our first opportunity since April 1, to raise this issue and make sure that the government has an eye on the crisis that is currently grabbing hold in the Canadian Armed Forces. Our troops deserve better than that. I know the troops appreciated that, when we were in government, we bought brand new C-17s, we bought brand new Hercules aircraft and we bought brand new Leopard tanks. We were able to support them throughout the war in Afghanistan and, when that war ended, there were actually some savings, which enabled us to fix the budget.
I can say that, as much as everybody always talks about where the Conservatives were on the percentage of GDP, we did not use creative accounting by adding in things like the pensions of veterans, the Coast Guard and border services to falsely inflate the GDP numbers.
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- Apr/10/24 4:42:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I move that the eighth report of the Standing Committee on National Defence presented on Monday, February 26, be concurred in.
I will be splitting my time with the member for Peterborough—Kawartha.
I am proud to stand to speak to the eighth report from the Standing Committee on National Defence. It is a report that reads:
Given that, rent for Canadian military personnel living on base is increasing this April, and 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....
I think all of us realize that on April 1, the Liberal government played a cruel joke on the men and women who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces. We saw the government jack up rent on military housing by 4.2%. On that very same day, the government also hiked up the carbon tax by 23%.
We are hearing all the time about the dire straits our members of the Canadian Armed Forces are facing. We are always discussing the retention and recruitment problems that we have in the Canadian Armed Forces today. We know that currently the Canadian Armed Forces is short over 6,700 military housing units. Those residential units are right across this country at a time when housing in every major urban centre is in desperate need.
There is not enough housing for the families out there, and that is why we have seen general public housing rent double in the last 10 years. In the last 10 years, mortgages have doubled, making it unaffordable for families, and that is impacting our Armed Forces members. When they cannot find a place to live on base in their own military housing because we do not have enough of them, being short 6,700, they are forced to go into the private property that is out there, and they cannot afford to buy or rent homes in communities.
We heard, just before Christmas, that the Nova Scotia legislature held hearings about the housing crisis for the Canadian Armed Forces in Halifax. Of course, we have the naval base, CFB Halifax, in Halifax. On the other side, we have CFB Shearwater. Military members there are living rough. The recount at the committee hearings in the Nova Scotia legislature pointed to the fact that the military members were living in one of the 30 tent cities that have sprouted up in Halifax. Military members were also living rough and having to live out of their cars. These are working members of the Canadian Armed Forces, working as either sailors or aircrew at either one of the two bases. We learned that a lot of them are couch surfing just to get by, and many of them are being forced to live in precarious situations, including having to live with domestic violence. They cannot afford to leave those situations and move to a safer accommodation.
I had, in particular, one military member and his spouse who were both serving in the Canadian Armed Forces and had been stationed at CFB Shilo in Manitoba. They sold their home in Manitoba because they were transferred to CFB Shearwater, and for the first while, they had to live in a camper. Then, when they were put into military housing, it was in such disrepair that they wrote to me and said that in the evening they would come home and just cry. They left this beautiful home in Manitoba and had to come to live in a shanty in Halifax because that is all that they could get from the Canadian Armed Forces.
We also know that things are tough in Esquimalt, and we often hear of the shortage of housing over there. I know for a fact that one of the members in the Royal Canadian Navy who is a master seaman from my riding, when he moved with his wife and small child to Esquimalt to serve, was put into a situation in which all they could afford with their salaries was a small one-bedroom apartment. It is so expensive that, on top of working full-time as a sailor in the Royal Canadian Navy, he has had to moonlight at night and work at a convenience store just to help make ends meet.
This has forced so many military families across this country to resort to other measures, including the use of food banks. I know we are going to hear from my colleague, the member for Peterborough—Kawartha, about how military families out of CFB Gagetown are now using the local food bank. We heard about how military families in Halifax are going to the food bank. That was part of the testimony that was presented at the Nova Scotia Legislature. Now, we just learned this week that military families at CFB Borden, those who are stationed there, are now also going to the food bank in the town of Borden.
This is no way to treat our military heroes. This is no way for them to have to live, and it was just reported last week that troops who had to come to Ottawa to train for cybersecurity at Willis College had to rely on food donations from the local college staff just so they could get by. This is an embarrassment, and this is a pox on the Liberal government for failing our troops.
The Liberals will talk about how great their defence policy update is, but if we look at what they are doing to military housing, in the past two years the government has only built 38 new homes for the Canadian Armed Forces. We are short 6,700, and all they could muster up was less than 20 homes a year over the last two years. In the defence policy update, they have promised, for the coming year of 2024-25, zero dollars. They promised, for 2025-26, zero dollars. The next year is only $1 million. The year after that is only $2 million, and in 2028-29, they finally get to $4 million.
That does not build enough homes when we are short 6,700 houses. That does not even build 20 homes, $7 million, with the price homes are at these days, and that is for the next five years. How are we going to fix this when there are not the dollars and resources to do it?
The Liberal government is failing our troops, and this has proven again that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
When we talk about the retention and recruitment crisis, there is no way that we can attract more people into the Canadian Armed Forces when we do not have proper housing to put them and their families in. We cannot attract them to come in to live in homes that are filled with black mould. We cannot put them in homes where they would be living in 1950s structures that have not been updated in the last 70 years.
When we are short 16,000 troops and we have 10,000 troops who are undertrained, they do not want to have to go for training where the barracks have frozen pipes or, even worse, are filled with rodents, which we are hearing about coming from Kingston.
I can tell members that as Conservatives we are going to go out there and help our forces. We are so proud of our military heroes and their families for stepping up and serving this nation. We are going to axe the carbon tax and make life more affordable for all Canadians, but especially for those who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces.
We are going to build the homes, and that includes building the homes for our military families across this country on every base, making sure we can maximize the land and space they are located on to build homes that are going to benefit them and their local communities.
We are going to fix the budget, and that means we are going to make sure we find the dollars to invest in the Canadian Armed Forces. When we fix the budget, there are going to be dollars available to go into the new kit that our troops need and into the equipment they require to do the difficult jobs we ask of them.
It is also about stopping the crime, whether it is sexual misconduct on base or crime in the communities people live in that are now just completely swamped in chaos because of the gangs that are out there, the car thefts that are happening and the violence that is on the rise because the Liberals continue to let violent offenders out over and over again.
We want to make sure that we are standing up for families and keeping our communities safe, because these are the greatest Canadians we have, those who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces. When they have a day of standing on the wall and keeping us safe here at home or when they are out on mission and they return from abroad, we need to make sure that they have a house they can afford and a home that is modern and comfortable, and that at the end of the day they can raise their families in safe communities and not worry about the cost of living crisis that they are dealing with right now because of the out-of-control spending and hyperinflation we have experienced because of the Liberals.
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- Feb/1/24 3:07:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, those are actually not the facts. Nearly 4,500 serving military members are currently awaiting housing, but the Liberals are building fewer than 20 homes per year for our troops. To add insult to injury, that Liberal minister just cut a billion dollars from the defence budget, and a leaked report confirmed that the minister is hiking the rents for our armed forces members.
Our military heroes know that those Liberals are just not worth the cost, so why does the Prime Minister always shovel money into the pockets of consultants and Liberal insiders, but cut spending on the backs of our troops?
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- Feb/1/24 3:06:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, our troops are being forced to use food banks and live in tents. According to the Halifax emergency manager, young soldiers are coming to work hungry. The Royal Canadian Legion in Nova Scotia said actively serving members are living rough in tents, living in their vehicles, couch surfing and even entering into relationships that have put them at risk of domestic violence to secure housing.
Why is the Liberal defence minister allowing this to happen under his watch? Why is he failing our troops?
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Madam Speaker, this is an issue that we really have to be concerned about.
The Liberals have already allowed over $10 billion of the national defence budget to lapse over the last several years. This is money that should have been spent on our armed forces and has not been. Our troops are dealing with a number of crises right now within the forces, including the cost of living and housing. We hear stories about them actually going out and asking for donations to help offset those costs.
We know that the $1 billion that is coming out now is coming at the wrong time. As I mentioned in my speech, we have donated howitzers, Leopard tanks and armoured vehicles to Ukraine. However, every time we donate, we also have to replenish our own stock of munitions and equipment to make sure that our army, air force and navy are mobile and expeditionary and can do the job that we call upon them to do from time to time.
The world, as we are witnessing, is getting scarier all the time. If we do not have strong Canadian Armed Forces, they are not going to be able to guarantee our peace, security and way of life right here in Canada.
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- Oct/20/23 11:47:51 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is actually repeating Liberal history, known as the decade of darkness. Soldiers and their families back then were forced to use food banks. There were slashes to training programs. They operated with old equipment and were sent to Afghanistan without proper boots or uniforms.
Now, this month, the headlines read, “Soldiers asking for donations to help with housing, food costs”; “Canadian Forces personnel leaving the ranks over lack of affordable housing”; and, “Federal government looking to cut $1 billion from National Defence budget”.
Our troops are out there fighting for our freedoms. Why is the Prime Minister attacking their economic freedom?
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- Oct/20/23 11:46:25 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight miserable years, our military heroes can no longer afford the Prime Minister. The NDP-Liberal government keeps driving troop morale down and their costs up.
A recently leaked report stated, “Increasingly, members will release (from the Canadian Forces) rather than relocate to an area they cannot afford or taking a loss on an existing home.” The Canadian Armed Forces are in a crisis and are short 16,000 people, but the Liberals are pushing people away and making things worse.
Why is the Prime Minister destroying our military?
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- Oct/18/23 3:29:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are discriminating against people of faith who want to pay tribute to our veterans. It is bad Liberal policy that is actually driving down morale in the Canadian Armed Forces.
It was reported that troops are leaving the forces in droves because of the lack of good, affordable housing. Sadly, military families are being forced to ask for donations to help offset the high cost of food and housing. After eight long years, the troops can no longer afford the Liberals or make that sacrifice.
When will the Prime Minister finally start supporting our troops?
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- Sep/29/23 11:43:41 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we learned yesterday that the Liberals are cutting another $1 billion from our armed forces. This is in addition to the $2.5 billion they already let lapse last year.
The Prime Minister has no problem wasting taxpayer money and running up massive deficits on things like the $116 million for McKinsey, $54 million on the ArriveCAN app or $20-million bonuses for the Bank of Canada executives. Let us not forget that the Liberals allowed $4.6 billion of abuse under their COVID programs. The Liberals waste money on just about everything but do not spend it on our military.
Why does the Prime Minister cut spending only when it hurts our troops?
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- Jun/19/23 8:57:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just to go on with the letter from CDAI, they said:
Russia's brutal war...in Ukraine...as well as the continuing expansion of the military arsenals of authoritarian regimes...should have prompted a re-assessment of our defence posture.
The reality is that well-connected consultants, big bankers and wealthy bondholders get more from the Liberal government than our troops. We know that the deficit that is going to the big bankers is over $40 billion. We know that McKinsey and other Liberal-connected consultants are getting billions of dollars every year, while our troops do without.
In this fiscal year that just ended in March 2023, we had $2.5 billion of lapsed military spending that will never be available again. That has dropped our GDP ratio, which was supposed to be at 1.33%, down to 1.29%. The difference between what was supposed to be spent on military expenditures and where we are at relative to the 2% of GDP shows that we are actually $20 billion short.
That is unacceptable. People cannot buy house insurance when their home is—
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- Apr/24/23 3:01:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is called creative accounting.
The Prime Minister's incompetence has caused the worst public service strike in decades, and it is disproportionately hurting national defence. Our troops are not being fed, do not have heat or hot water, and are not being reimbursed for out-of-pocket meal expenses in places such as Poland.
It is said that an army marches on beans and bullets, and the incompetent Liberal government cannot even get that right. The Prime Minister does not consider the basic needs of our forces essential. He is literally leaving our troops in the cold and hungry. Why is that?
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- Apr/17/23 3:04:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is dodge, dither and delay. That is the Liberal way.
This is a call for action from former Liberal and Conservative politicians, as well as non-partisan defence experts. They say, “Russia's brutal war...in Ukraine...as well as the continuing expansion of the military arsenals of authoritarian regimes...should have prompted a re-assessment of our defence posture.” Sadly, well-connected consultants, big bankers and wealthy bondholders get more from the government than our troops do.
When will the Prime Minister take our defence and national security seriously and safeguard our peace, prosperity and way of life?
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- Apr/17/23 3:03:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, “Years of restraint, cost cutting, downsizing and deferred investments, have meant that Canada’s defence capabilities have atrophied.” That is a direct quote from a letter from over 50 of Canada's former cabinet ministers, defence experts and military leaders. They are calling on the government to live up to our responsibility of “protecting Canadians against all threats—foreign and domestic”. However, due to the government's lack of investment and demoralizing policies, we are short 10,000 troops today and over 4,200 military procurement staff.
Enough is enough. Why are the Liberals not supporting our military heroes?
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- Oct/31/22 2:06:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the world is at a crossroads. The ongoing power struggle of dictatorships like Russia and China against western democracies is threatening our future and way of life. Russia's brutal and illegal war against Ukraine is the most obvious symptom of this threat. The communist regime in Beijing is weighing options on when to invade Taiwan. Both are challenging Canada in our Arctic.
Meanwhile, the Liberal government is refusing to invest in our military. It has failed to modernize NORAD and update our North Warning System. The Liberals are still making our forces fly obsolete fighter jets and sail archaic submarines. Most shockingly, according to retired General Rick Hillier, we have roughly half the number of troops we need. Our current chief of the defence staff characterized it as a crisis. I call it a catastrophe.
However, there is good news on the horizon. Our Conservative leader, the next Prime Minister of Canada, will put Canada first, give our troops the kits they need and restore honour and respect to those who serve our country in uniform.
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