Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being with us today.
First I'll address Mr. Risser and his point. He mentioned Andrew McArthur, who represents the shipbuilding companies. I was speaking with Mr. McArthur, in fact, yesterday, and we had a discussion last week on some of these issues.
I want to confirm for the benefit of the entire committee that in fact other countries.... Norway, for instance, has had a 30-year period of direct investment in their shipbuilding infrastructure, and at the same time protectionist policies that have garnered significant support for their shipbuilding industry and have given them a significant competitive advantage at this point. But there are measures, as you mentioned, that exist currently—such as the structured finance facility and the accelerated capital cost allowance and government procurement—that can help provide a level playing field for our producers.
Specifically, if the structured finance facility is refinanced, and if Canadian ship buyers have access to both the accelerated capital cost allowance and the structured finance facility—which foreign buyers of Canadian vessels, it's my understanding, could qualify for in their own countries—and if government procurement is more focused on supporting the Canadian shipbuilding industry, which is a unique industry in which other countries really do take a more active role.... We always talk about the U.S. situation, the Jones Act, but other countries take a more direct role than we have at various times in our country's history. If those measures are done—again, refinancing the structured finance facility, making the structured finance facility and accelerated capital cost allowance simultaneously available to our buyers, and a refurbished government procurement program—the industry can compete even if faced with increased competition through, for instance, EFTA.