Mr. Chair, it is a pleasure to rise tonight to debate supplementary estimates (A). I will ask questions.
Under the Department of National Defence, vote 1a, regarding operating expenditures, is where we pay for the care and well-being of the Canadian Armed Forces. We recently learned that the Minister of National Defence callously cut health care funding for our troops if they require more care than what we can provide on a military base and need to go to public hospitals that are funded through the provinces. This cut was made without consultation with the provinces or with us as parliamentarians.
My question for the Minister of National Defence is this: When was this decision made to change the way hospitals are paid for the care of our troops?