Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, again, it is critical that we give our women and men in the Canadian Armed Forces the equipment they need. As my colleague just said, we will be purchasing 15 surface combatants. The investment is fully funded in our new defence policy. We know that the Conservatives were planning on procuring only nine ships, and so only left enough money for nine ships.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, budget 2019 includes important measure to support the Canadian Armed Forces, including renewing our missions in Ukraine, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan. In addition, it allocates nearly $19 million in support of Canadian Armed Forces members transitioning over to civilian life.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague from Bay of Quinte for his great work and his unwavering support for the base located in his riding, CFB Trenton. I am always happy to talk about the Conservative government's budget cuts, as well as the investments we are making for our men and women.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, that is another example that shows how our investments compare to the previous government's. I am wondering how it could have made these investments. Our government gave a $2.4-billion contract to Airbus Defence and Space for a new fleet of 16 fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft and five years of in-service support.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I would like to once again reiterate our unwavering support for Ukraine. As members know, that is why our government renewed Canada's training and military co-operation mission in Ukraine for a period of three years, until March 2022. This renewed mandate will enable approximately 200 members of the Canadian Armed Forces to successfully pursue their tactical training of Ukrainian security forces.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague from Marc-Aurèle-Fortin for his excellent work on the Standing Committee on National Defence. It is a pleasure to work with him. We do indeed care about the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces, which is why we passed new legislation to safeguard their jobs and training leave.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, we have a clear objective when it comes to members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and that is to help the transition of military members' families. It is not always easy to move when assigned to another military base. Therefore, we must ensure that families have the support they need.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, as we have said over and over this evening, our defence policy is at the core of everything we do, as are our men and women in uniform. That is why we made a commitment to increase spending by more than 70% over the next 10 years through our policy, “Strong, Secure, Engaged”.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, our men and women are definitely our absolute priority. We want to help them when they go through difficult times, especially when they experience mental health issues and other trauma. In budget 2017, we invested $17.5 million in a centre focused on the prevention, assessment and treatment of PTSD and mental health issues among military members and veterans.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, that is precisely why we launched an open and transparent process to replace the fighter jets, as the minister said earlier. I will add that when the Conservatives were in power, they kept two sets of books when it came to the new fighter jets. They had one set of books for the Canadian public and one for themselves, for their government.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, as I said, we are grateful to the members of the Canadian Armed Forces who are currently assisting those affected by the flooding in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick. That is part of their duties, and they are always there to help the affected communities. As the minister has said repeatedly, the Canadian Armed Forces belong to the communities.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Mississauga—Lakeshore for his excellent work at the Standing Committee on National Defence. It is an honour and a pleasure to work with him. The IDEaS Program opened a number of doors to industries, universities, and innovators when it comes to research and development into the defence capabilities that we need.

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, our relationship with first nations is very important and our Canadian Armed Forces have a number of programs available to them. Could the minister speak briefly about the programs provided by the Canadian Armed Forces for first nations?

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, earlier this winter, I had the opportunity to travel to Montreal with the minister. We visited the Fusiliers Mont-Royal regiment to announce the summer employment program for reservists. The announcement was very well received by the Canadian Armed Forces and by reservists.

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, I thank the Minister for his answer. It is clearly a very interesting program for reservists. I am going to say something that the Conservatives are definitely not going to like: climate change is real. As we know, Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick are currently experiencing flooding.