Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all, I want to commend Mr. Lessard for bringing this forward. I think we've all been hit in our communities by the downturn in manufacturing and forestry. In my own riding, a plant closed two weeks before Christmas, putting over 500 people out of work.
I think the response from the government is inadequate, and I think this needs to be evaluated, so I commend Mr. Lessard for bringing this forward.
I have spoken to people on the finance committee who indicated to me that they will be looking at this. I don't think it makes sense for two committees to be doing it at the same time. I would rather not vote against this. I would rather table this until we see what the finance committee has to say. We would be very amenable to discussing this motion. We might have some amendments and some recommended changes that we would consider to be friendly, if the time came.
We think it is worthwhile having the discussion. It is a very important time in the history of Canada in the manufacturing and forestry sectors. They need more attention. But I do believe the finance committee is going to have a look at it. My recommendation would be to table it, see what the finance committee does with it, and then look at it again.