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Good morning. I’m pleased to be here this morning with Rick Norlock, our candidate here in Northumberland, and Darryl Kramp, the MP for Prince Edward-Hastings. I also would like to welcome Gordon O’Connor, MP for Carleton-Mississippi Mills, our critic for National Defence.
Ladies and gentlemen, Canada needs change to a new government that will bring accountability to Ottawa, and will get on with addressing the real priorities of ordinary working families. Priorities like cleaning up government, cutting the GST, and cracking down on crime. Priorities that will move Canada forward after 12 years of scandal and inaction.
Today, I want to discuss how a Conservative government will stand up for the courageous men and women of the Canadian Forces. Our forces stand on guard for us, both at home and around the world, so we must also stand up for them. Men and women who put on the uniform of Canada must have the tools they need to protect themselves and do their job. Our Canadian Forces do vital work, whether it is UN peacekeeping, humanitarian relief, disaster assistance, or military missions like Afghanistan. Their professionalism and dedication fills us with great national pride. When they lose personnel, we share their grief.
This year has been the Year of the Veteran. We have honoured those heroes who answered the call and stood up for Canada in times past. But there is no better way to honour the legacy left by our veterans then to give today’s Canadian Forces the recognition and the support they deserve. The Canadian Forces deserve better than the neglect they have seen for the past 12 years. Under a new Conservative government, it will change.
A Conservative government will significantly increase the baseline budget for defence. By 2010, spending on national defence will reach about $1.8 billion over currently projected levels. These increases to funding levels will be allocated within a new, detailed “Canada First” defence strategy to ensure our national sovereignty. Sovereignty means Canadians must be able to fulfill our own responsibilities. We have to protect three coastlines and a huge land mass. We need strong Canadian Forces to provide emergency response at home for disasters like floods, storms, earthquakes, or the threat of terrorism. We need strong Canadian Forces to project Canadian values abroad, whether in humanitarian missions like tsunami relief, or in promoting democracy in Afghanistan through conventional military power. But in 1997, to get troops to the Manitoba floods we had to rely on American heavy-lift aircraft. We had to do the same for the Quebec ice storms in 1998, and to get to Afghanistan in 2002. Last year when the tsunami hit South Asia, Canada had to wait almost two weeks and spend $4.4 million to rent Russian Antonov aircraft to get our DART team to Sri Lanka. To be truly sovereign, we must be able to deploy our forces and equipment where they are needed, when they are needed. To put it bluntly, hitchhikers may get to their destination, but they don’t get to pick the route or the timing.
That is why a major component of our “Canada First” defence plan will be the purchase of large strategic-lift aircraft, which will be stationed here at CFB Trenton. We will also purchase new tactical lift aircraft to replace our aging Hercules fleet. With this new lift capacity, Trenton will become a central hub for Canadian deployments abroad. We will establish a new airborne battalion of 650 troops, also stationed here, to be ready to deploy at home or abroad at a moment’s notice. And the capacity of the DART team, headquartered near here at CFB Kingston, will be doubled. This means that DART will have the equipment and resources to do much more humanitarian assistance on the world stage. With heavy-lift aircraft, a new airborne battalion, and an expanded DART team, Canada’s sovereign capacity to respond rapidly and effectively in a crisis will be much improved.
Over the next few weeks, we will be unveiling further details of our defence plan for the different regions and the different services within the Canadian Forces. Canadians will learn how a Conservative government will provide the men and women of our forces the equipment they need to do their job.
So on January 23rd, let’s stand up for the men and women in our forces, stand up for our sovereignty, and stand up for Canada.
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For further information: Conservative Party Press Office (613) 755-2191
