Gordon O’Connor (Minister of Defence): The Liberal government gave the military 45 minutes to commit troops to Afghanistan.
Ralph Goodale (Liberal) Wascana: Asking about the training program at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Which NATO countries are at the Nato Flying Training Centre. What are the duration of their contracts? Will any of these contracts be ended prematurely? What will be the effect of a weakened flight training program? Could the Snowbirds be sustained without the NATO training program?
O’Connor: Doesn’t have all the details on those questions but promised to get them to Goodale. “From our point of view … it has a great future.” The primary purpose is train Canadian pilots. “Moose Jaw is vital to training Canadian pilots. The Snowbirds also have a great future.”
… and with that, I think the juice is just about out on my laptop. Back online as soon as I find some power up here ….
[Posted from the House of Commons press gallery during a “Committee of the Whole” debate on defence issues.]