Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I really appreciate it.
This is an important study and an important motion being brought forward. It is a matter of urgency, I feel.
In our constituency of Windsor—Tecumseh, we don't have a shipbuilding footprint, although being in the Great Lakes, we depend significantly on the Coast Guard and the ships there to patrol our waters in the area.
Fundamentally, I do appreciate the incredible significance of the shipbuilding industry, not just to the security and the safety of our country from coast to coast to coast, but also to the jobs that I see from shipbuilding. In this climate and situation with COVID, that is absolutely paramount.
When I think of shipbuilding, I think not just about the direct shipbuilding jobs, but also about the skilled trades and how important the health of our shipbuilding industry is to the development and cultivation of skilled trades in this country. When I think about shipbuilding, I also think about communities that have a large steel sector and steel industry, and how important that is to those communities as well, and to all the workers who are tied to that.
To me, this is a priority. This is about making sure that, yes, while we're focused on COVID and the health and safety of Canadians as a top priority, at the same time, it is important that we focus on advancing, protecting, and growing jobs. Shipbuilding, obviously, is a large accelerator and catalyst for that. Again, whether it's skilled trades, good union jobs, or good steel jobs, it's absolutely critical.
There is, to me, quite an urgency to see this study brought forward in a timely fashion. I will be supporting this motion.