NEWS RELEASE

November 29, 2001                                                                                            For Immediate Release

PRIME MINISTER DAMAGED TROOPS MORE THAN ANY TALIBAN BULLET EVER COULD

Breitkreuz read letter from a disappointed and angry Mother in the House of Commons

Ottawa – This week in the House of Commons, Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, used his time for a one-minute statement to recite from a letter he received from a Mother who is very disappointed with the Prime Minister of Canada.  Here is Breitkreuz’s statement:

Mr. Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton--Melville, Canadian Alliance): Mr. Speaker, last week I received a letter from Shirley Pachal of Saltcoats, Saskatchewan. She writes: “Mr. Prime Minister, I have two wonderful sons who are members of our Armed Forces—one is with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the other with the Royal Canadian Regiment and they are very precious to me. My sons are honourable, brave and courageous. They are the kind of men that Canada should be proud to call their own. My sons have gone through rigorous and gruelling training and have worked hard and are committed to their jobs. They are prepared to stand up and defend all that is considered to be good and right. They are prepared to put their lives on the line to defend their beliefs, families and Country.  I wish to say only one thing to you Mr. Prime Minister and to those who support you—Your actions, inactions and your lack of leadership have been nothing less than degrading and demoralizing to my sons as well as all Canadian troops.  You have shown a lack of faith and confidence in courageous, hard working men and women of our Military.  You have struck them with a crippling blow to their hearts and— [cut off by the Speaker] souls causing more damage than any Taliban bullet ever could.”

Before Breitkreuz could finish the letter, the Speaker cut him off for failing to direct his remarks to the Chair.  The Speaker may not have realized that the MP was reading from a letter addressed to the Prime Minister.

Breitkreuz’s statement led to a question in the house by the Official Opposition asking the government why they have not given them the resources and tools they desperately need in order to defend our country.  “Men and women proudly wear the uniform of our Armed Forces.  It is high time we showed them that we respect and admire their commitment to our country by providing them with the tools needed to provide us with peace and security,” said Breitkreuz.  “We need to show our troops that we have confidence in them and put our trust in them to do the jobs they were trained to do.  Unfortunately, as Mrs. Pachal’s letter so eloquently points out, the Prime Minister failed us and our troops.”

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