SoVote

May/2/24 6:57:55 p.m.
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It is great being here tonight and talking about the sister base of 14 Wing in Greenwood. It is nice to be a part of the discussion here this evening. Questions and comments, the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

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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Ms. Rachel Blaney

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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Mr. Pat Kelly (Calgary Rocky Ridge, CPC)

May/2/24 7:00:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member is correct about Ombud Lick; he did say this. Another important voice to be heard on this is that of the chief of the defence staff, who has cited the crisis of retention and recruitment as perhaps the most critical crisis of the Canadian Forces, among the many crises facing the forces. We know family issues are one of the key drivers of people out of the forces, with housing being probably number one on that list. I know the member serves and represents a military area, so if she would like, I will ask her to talk about how these family issues, especially when postings change, create a trigger point for many members to leave the CAF.

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Ms. Rachel Blaney

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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Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, CPC)

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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Mrs. Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, CPC)

May/2/24 7:12:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what does the member think needs to happen before the Liberal government finally takes the security of our nation seriously?

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Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus

May/2/24 7:13:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a great question from my colleague. I thank her for her question and for her years of commitment to the Standing Committee on National Defence. She is also extremely committed to NATO. Her riding is home to a Canadian Forces base, including a special forces unit, so she knows what she is talking about. As I said in my speech, what is needed is for the government to stop spouting empty rhetoric and to start taking real action. Considering what we heard yesterday from the Minister of National Defence and the entire cabinet's lack of interest in the Canadian Forces, I would say it is a lost cause. The next Conservative government will fix this.

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Nato
Defence

Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)

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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Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus

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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Mrs. Sherry Romanado (Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Lib.)

May/2/24 7:15:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I salute my colleague, and I thank him for his service. We worked together on the Standing Committee on National Defence. In budget 2024, we allocated money specifically for military housing, child care and so on. Before the holidays, there were 30 hours' worth of votes in the House. Those votes included votes to increase military salaries and investments for them. Having voted against military spending before the holidays, will he now vote in favour of the budget and military spending?

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Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus

May/2/24 7:16:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we understand what our job as the opposition in this place is all about. We vote against the estimates or the overall budgets when they generally make no sense. Obviously, I am always going to support helping the Canadian Forces. As I said before, I hope that can be done responsibly and, above all, effectively, to restore the pride of Canadian Forces members and, above all, to encourage young people to enlist and become proud members of the Canadian Forces.

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Mr. Pat Kelly (Calgary Rocky Ridge, CPC)

May/2/24 7:17:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the report we are debating called upon the government to reverse the rent increase on our forces members. While this may seem like a small thing, it just seems to be what is typical of the government's approach. The utter neglect of the forces has precipitated a crisis of recruitment and retention, yet the government has pressed ahead with the rent increase. I wonder if the member would like to comment and connect these seemingly small things with the near-catastrophic state that our national defence is in right now.

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Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus

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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Mrs. Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, CPC)

May/2/24 7:18:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise on behalf of the women and men serving in the Canadian Armed Forces in the Ottawa valley, across Canada and abroad. In February, the Standing Committee on National Defence passed its eighth report. The report said, “Given that, rent for Canadian military personnel living on bases 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.” Unfortunately, for those living and serving in the CAF, the NDP-Liberal government could not be bothered to read that. April 1 came and the rent went up. Along with the higher rents, our fighting forces also had to pay the higher Liberal carbon tax. The official policy of the Liberal Party is to make life unaffordable. While Canadians saw taxes on energy go up 23% across the country, the average rent for Canadians in uniform went up 4.2%. If the socialist coalition had its way, CAF members in Ontario would have seen a 6.8% rent hike. It was only thanks to the Ford government in Toronto putting a cap on rent increases at 2.5% that the NDP-Liberal cash grab was prevented. The same thing happened in Nova Scotia. The radical extremist government wanted to hike rents by 9.3%. Instead, the province capped rent hikes to 5%. CAF members in Newfoundland and Labrador were not lucky enough to have a Conservative premier. Their rents went up 8.3%. In Yellowknife, rents were up by $111 a month. In Iqaluit, rents went up by $131 a month. A Bay Street lawyer renting a fancy penthouse in downtown Toronto, paying $5,000 a month, would have seen a smaller rent increase than a soldier stationed in Iqaluit. Under Chrétien and Martin, we got the feeling that Liberals were largely indifferent to the Canadian Armed Forces, but this bunch treats them with disdain. These punishing rent hikes reveal the true ideology of the socialist coalition. It is intentionally underfunding the armed forces, driving serving members out of the military and discouraging new recruits from joining. They want to see the fighting force atrophy and eventually die, so that they can replace the military with a climate corps focused only on disaster response. Even the stuff the old Liberals used to prefer the military to focus on, such as so-called peacekeeping is now outsourced to the Communists who control China. The latest Liberal cuts to defence budget spending are putting our women and men at risk. Normally, before being stationed abroad, our armed forces undergo combined arms training. Every unit that had been sent to Latvia as a part of Operation Reassurance had undergone combined arms training, until now. Thanks to the latest round of Liberal austerity, combined arms training has been cut. Former Liberal member of Parliament and retired general Andrew Leslie told the CBC today that cuts to military training were dangerous, saying he was “not aware of any other [NATO] army which will be deploying troops to the front line of a possible confrontation with Russia, who are not 100 per cent trained according to a variety of battle test standards.” It is not just the army facing cuts. The far left, socialist Prime Minister is outsourcing fighter pilot training. Now the second-largest country in the world cannot even train its own fighter pilots. For anyone with a passing knowledge of Canadian history, the loss of pilot training under the socialist coalition is heartbreaking. Canada was home to the Commonwealth air training program. Between 1939 and 1945, over 130,000 pilots and aircrew from around the world were trained here in Canada. Many of those pilots fell in love with Canada or a Canadian and then came back here after the war and helped build this great nation. Few Canadians even know we once had an aircraft carrier, until it was scrapped by Pierre Trudeau. The anti-military apple does not fall far from the Marxist tree. I almost wish the Prime Minister's military dismantling was part of a hidden agenda, but it is not. It is a very public agenda and young Canadians are paying attention. They see the news stories about higher rents for CAF members. They see the news stories about poor equipment and cuts to training. They see what the government is doing and they want no part of it. Recruitment will continue to decline because the government and the Prime Minister have done everything they can to drive it down. Fewer serving members in the CAF means less money for the defence department and more money for buying votes from special interest groups. The recent budget reveals the government's real priorities. It plans to spend zero dollars on military housing this year and zero dollars next year, but two years from now, watch out, because it plans to spend a whopping $1 million on military housing. That is the same year these socialists have budgeted to spend over $500 billion on program expenses. Despite Liberal inflation, $1 million still sounds like a lot, but in a half-trillion dollar budget it comes out to 0.0000002%. That $1 million was not a rounding error, but that was about three zeros ago. One million dollars for military housing two years from now is an insult. Compare that to the $400 million the government plans to spend this year on housing students seeking asylum at Conestoga College. That is money the CAF could use today to make desperately needed repairs to military housing. As the member of Parliament for the largest army base in Canada, I have seen first-hand the state of some of the housing. Asbestos, black mould, peeling paint and leaky pipes are just some of the ongoing issues on base. The government has never put that on recruiting posters. However, as bad as some units are, many soldiers will happily take whatever they can because the cost to rent off base has exploded under the Prime Minister. It used to be that a serving soldier was earning enough to buy a house, but now they have to reach the rank of general to afford buying a home. With yesterday's confession by the Minister of National Defence the truth is out. He stated, “Trying to go to cabinet or even to Canadians and tell them that we had to do this because we need to meet this magical threshold of 2%...don't get me wrong, it's important, but it was really hard to convince people that it was a worthy goal, that it was some noble standard we had to meet.” Recent polls have shown that a majority of Canadians support much higher defence spending. Canadians would have needed no convincing had the Minister of National Defence made the case to them, but he never tried. His description of the NATO defence pledge as a “magical threshold”, a “worthy goal” or a “noble standard” is revealing. It hardly sounds like someone who could make a persuasive case to a group of pacifists and socialists. Russia is waging a war on Ukraine. China is threatening to invade Taiwan. Iran is funding terror worldwide and launching drone attacks on Israel. Not since the Korean War has the case for increasing defence spending been more obvious, yet despite the state of the world, the NDP-Liberal government is cutting defence spending. This is not the first time the Liberals have led the CAF into a decade of darkness, but this time it is different. Even under the Chrétien Liberals' cuts in the 1990s, Canadians were still eager to join up. Those days are gone. That is because an entire generation of Canadians have spent the last nine years hearing the Prime Minister downplay our once proud country. Why would any young person risk their lives for a post-nation state? Why sign up for a country whose own prime minister would rather apologize for? When members of the socialist coalition look at the country all they see is a racist colonial oppressor, full of neo-Nazis hiding behind every truck trailer. They have hired an army of ideological storm troopers to lead re-education camps. They use every opportunity to erase symbols of our proud history. The truth is that the NDP-Liberal government is ashamed of Canada. Why would anyone want to serve their country when the very people running it do not like it? It is not only that these socialists do not like Canada. They do not think much of those of us who love Canada. They do not like the kind of people who are proud to wear the uniform bearing our national flag. For the current Prime Minister, they are all just a bunch of racist misogynists and an unacceptable fringe minority. The truth is that these radical far-left Marxists across the way are the fringe minority of government. After nine years, Canadians are tired of a Prime Minister who constantly apologizes for our country's very existence. He is just not worth the cost to our security.

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The Deputy Speaker

May/2/24 7:28:14 p.m.
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I just want to make sure the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby is okay. I saw him whack his head on the back of the desk so I just want to make sure.

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Mr. Peter Julian

May/2/24 7:28:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I did find the speech quite stimulating, but my head is fine. I hope, for the hon. member who just spoke, it is the same.

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Mr. Pat Kelly (Calgary Rocky Ridge, CPC)

May/2/24 7:28:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to that speech. It is great the way the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke does not pull punches. We all know how she feels, and I really find that refreshing in the House. As the member said in her speech, she represents the largest base in the country. I think she would know better than anyone in this place how the housing costs affect the morale of the forces and how it is a factor in the crisis of recruitment and retention, which has been identified from the chief of the defence staff on down as the most important crisis facing the forces. Can the member talk about this from her experience representing the people so affected by these things, such as the rent increase we are talking about?

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Mrs. Cheryl Gallant

May/2/24 7:29:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the increases in pay are not keeping up with the pace of increases in the cost of living, none the least of which was this recent increase in rent. They are calling me and telling me that they are having to leave the forces because they just cannot afford to live there anymore. They need a job with more pay. They would love to serve, but they cannot afford it.

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Ms. Lindsay Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe, NDP)

May/2/24 7:30:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member, in her speech, stated that the government will replace the Canadian Armed Forces with a climate corps. Now, I am happy to support my PMB on the introduction of a youth climate corps, which would generate more training and job opportunities for young people in a clean energy and conservation type of economy. However, I know that the member loves conspiracy theories and that she does not necessarily believe in climate change. I cannot even count the number of times she said “socialist”, which I happen to think is a good thing, but could the member actually point to any proof she has that the creation of a youth climate corps, and this socialist plot of the government, would actually replace the Canadian Armed Forces?

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