Discussion · Government Orders
James Bezan Conservative
“The Liberals are inflating their defence spending numbers. They count spending on the Coast Guard, pensions, police, and border services as defence. A fair comparison shows they spend only 1.05% of our GDP on defence.”
“Madam Speaker, the member for Kingston and the Islands is much like the member for Winnipeg North. They think that if they say it loud enough, they must be right. The fact remains that the Harper government never did that. Conservatives made the investments in the Canadian Armed Forces. The Coast Guard was not considered part of that calculation, nor were pensions, which are now in there, nor some spending from Global Affairs Canada, the RCMP and the CBSA that are all thrown in there. The Liberals have thrown everything in there except the kitchen sink. No, wait, that is in there, too. If we do an apples-to-apples comparison of 2023-24, the Liberals are at 1.05%. That is really embarrassing, knowing the dangerous world that we live in today.”
Madam Speaker, the member for Kingston and the Islands is much like the member for Winnipeg North. They think that if they say it loud enough, they must be right. The fact remains that the Harper government never did that. Conservatives made the investments in the Canadian Armed Forces. The Coast Guard was not considered part of that calculation, nor were pensions, which are now in there, nor some spending from Global Affairs Canada, the RCMP and the CBSA that are all thrown in there. The Liberals have thrown everything in there except the kitchen sink. No, wait, that is in there, too. If we do an apples-to-apples comparison of 2023-24, the Liberals are at 1.05%. That is really embarrassing, knowing the dangerous world that we live in today.