Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the member for Sturgeon River—Parkland for his excellent presentation today, and for his commitment to our country. It is my pleasure to speak to today's motion put forward by my colleague, the member for Brantford—Brant.
Words have consequences. The Prime Minister quickly found that out when he was booed by the audience at the Edmonton town hall. He not only insulted the veteran who asked the question, but he disrespected all the veterans who are currently struggling to get the help they need from Veterans Affairs Canada.
In that quip, he admitted that he broke a key campaign promise to veterans. The reason why the Prime Minister's comments felt like a punch in the gut was because we see Liberals spending millions of taxpayers' money on ridiculous things, whether it be the moving expenses for political staff or $200,000 on an illegal Caribbean getaway, and there are others. That is why this stings.
While I acknowledge the Liberals have increased the overall dollars spent through VAC, the Prime Minister's comment to that veteran was that veterans are “asking for more than we are able to give.” That would make anyone's blood boil, especially as the Liberals have no problem spending taxpayers' money on frivolous things, as I have mentioned.
It is starting to feel like the movie, Groundhog Day, as once again the House is debating a motion about the Prime Minister's questionable conduct. While my Liberal friends from across the way have to defend their boss, our Conservative team is far more concerned about standing up for our bosses, the constituents in our ridings. We will not let the Liberals get away with their broken promises.
Each and every day, we will continue to shine a light on the transgressions of the government, and get it to honour the promises made to veterans. It is inconceivable how the Prime Minister has yet to make a meaningful apology to Canada's veterans. Sorry does seem to be the hardest word. I know every single MP in this Chamber wants to improve the services and programs that our veterans rely on.
I also know that, while some improvements have been made in the past 12 years, there is still much more left to do. When I was first elected in the fall of 2013 in a by-election, I made it quite clear that I was not elected to defend the status quo. I was not elected to make excuses, or shirk from my responsibilities as a member of Parliament to work to improve the quality of life of Westman veterans.
It was in that capacity that I worked with any member of this chamber who wanted to improve the new veterans charter and the levels of service delivery from VAC. To provide a few examples, in my constituency of Brandon—Souris, Service Canada started offering veterans affairs services at numerous rural offices, so veterans no longer had to drive to Brandon or CFB Shilo to drop off or pick up paperwork. We worked with the Legion and ANAF to make improvements to their buildings and improve accessibility.
I advocated for increasing benefits for part-time reserve force veterans, and also to enhance the lifetime support for injured veterans and their families. I was proud to work with an impressive team that was pouring their heart and soul into this issue, and it must be said that it was a collective effort. My good friend, the hon. member for Durham, and previous veterans affairs minister was able to spearhead many of the changes I just spoke about.
The member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman was a regular visitor to my constituency in his capacity as the parliamentary secretary, and is passionate about improving mental health care services. Even the Hon. Laurie Hawn came to my constituency, and did a public meeting with our veterans community to incorporate their ideas into reforming the new veterans charter. There is no one who championed veterans issues more than Laurie, and even in retirement from the House of Commons, he remains a tireless advocate.
I can only imagine what Laurie had to say when he found out about the Prime Minister's flippant remarks at the Edmonton town hall.
The other member I would like to thank from our Conservative team is my friend from Barrie—Innisfil. Through his private member's bill, he would have enshrined into law the promise between Canada and our veterans. It would have made it crystal clear that VAC and the programs and services it offers, must treat veterans and their families with dignity, respect, and fairness. While my colleagues across the way voted against the legislation, I still have hope that we can implement the spirit of his legislation in everything that VAC does.
However, it is telling that we need to pass such legislation. It is an indication there is much more work to do. That is why today's debate is so important. We must not only hold the Prime Minister accountable for his offensive comments, the House is now seized with how the Liberals are not living up to their campaign commitments to Canada's veterans.
If we go to an independent website that is determining which Liberal promises have actually been implemented, we would discover that only three of the 15 have been achieved. If this were an exam, that would be considered a failure, except in this case, we are not talking about a test, we are talking about people's lives. We are talking about our brave men and women who were willing to put their lives on the line in defence of our great country. While I personally like the new Liberal Minister of Veterans Affairs, I would ask him to sit down with the Prime Minister and get to work on implementing the rest of their promises.
The Liberals are over half way through their term and, quite frankly, they have not done enough on veterans affairs issues. Just today, outside this chamber, there are veterans rallying against the government's broken promise on pensions. While I know the minister believes he has checked that box in his mandate letter, there are veterans from across the country who would fundamentally disagree. There are veterans who are calling the government's actions a betrayal. It is hard to disagree with them. The government's promises do not live up to its actions.
I know this conversation is a tough one to have. Many Liberals MPs are probably scratching their heads at how their Prime Minister could let down so many, and as quickly as he has done. It would be my sincere hope that by the end of today's debate, we will have reached consensus and work will begin immediately on implementing the Liberals' promises. The time for excuses is over. We must collectively demand better from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Veterans Affairs.
Canadians who are watching us today should be mad that the government has failed to live up to its word. They should be mad the Prime Minister, for whatever reason, cannot bring himself to give a meaningful apology. They should be mad the government is still talking about doing something, rather than just rolling up its sleeves and making veterans a priority.
I call on my Liberal colleagues to join us by voting in favour of the motion. I ask them to put aside their party stripes for this vote and support our veterans. They were willing to fight for our rights and freedoms in some of the most uninhabitable terrain one could possibly imagine. The least MPs could do is stand up for the motion, instead of sitting on their hands worrying about the consequences from their party bosses.
I believe our military veterans deserve the utmost respect for their service to our country, and the sacrifices many have made in that endeavour. It is imperative that our elected officials lead by example in demonstrating this respect.