“The military is short more than 8,600 people. The Liberals broke promises on raises and benefits, cut housing help for troops, and raised their rent. I want the minister to explain why he is making it harder to keep people in our military.”

“Mr. Speaker, everything the Liberals say about our military is just an illusion. They promised our troops raises, but they never materialized. Retention benefits for reserves are missing in action. The Liberal minister is gutting housing support for our troops by up to $7,000 a year, plus he is hiking housing rents on Canadian Armed Forces members. Our military is short over 8,600 personnel and over half of our military occupations are suffering critical staff shortages. Why is the defence minister making retention worse for our soldiers, sailors and aviators?”

“The government is raising rent for military housing and cutting housing support. This hurts our troops and makes them want to leave the military. I want the defence minister to reverse these decisions.”

“Mr. Speaker, let us separate the fiction and actually have some reality here. Most of our troops are not seeing a bump in their paycheque because the Liberals continue to claw it back at every opportunity. Rents are up by more than 5% for military housing. Housing support is down in more than 10 of the major housing posting locations. These reckless cuts are making retention and readiness much worse. How can our brave women and men who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces trust these Liberals when they give with one hand and claw back with the other? Will the defence minister reverse these bad policies and actually start improving the retention of our brave women and men?”

“The government is raising rent and cutting housing help for military members. When will the defence minister cancel these cuts?”

“Mr. Speaker, the Liberals’ pay raise for the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces is a farce. The Liberals are slashing the housing benefit by up to 72%, while upping the rent by 5%. CAF members in the national capital region will see their housing differential cut by up to $4,200 a year. In Kingston, they will see their housing differential cut by up to $7,200 a year. When will the defence minister reverse these harmful changes?”