Thanks, Mr. Chair.
I was going to speak to this earlier, but I handed it off because I thought there was going to be a subamendment.
You know, over the course of the last five or six hours, I think we've had a really strong opportunity to hear from a lot of different people on this particular topic: Minister Freeland, the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and, of course, BC Ferries and the Infrastructure Bank. Again, it's my take. It's through my lens, and I didn't see a heck of a lot of contradictions here.
I did see things that unified many of us around the table, that we're in a different time from six months ago, four months ago or three months ago. Seemingly, we're in a different time every day. When you turn on the television, whether it's CBC, CTV, Global or social media, the goalposts with respect to the United States.... In particular, Mr. Trump, with these unfair tariffs, keeps on being erratic and unpredictable. The only thing that's predictable about him is unpredictability.
We're in a different time, and I think each of the witnesses really highlighted that. Yes, there were dates thrown about, with who knew what when. This is serious, and I get that. In particular, it's serious for the British Columbian people. I'm getting that through opposition people who are from B.C. and, of course, folks who are on the government side who are from B.C.
I look to a couple of things. It seems that this is an omnibus motion to go fishing. Okay, that can be done, but what are we going to do in terms of not just the government but meeting the moment for Canadians? I agree we need more infrastructure development in Canada. I agree we need more people working on ships, different infrastructure, not shipping them out to potential areas, in this case China. However, we also have a firm grasp of the chronological aspects of why that happened.
Now, as a committee, what are we going to do? Are we going to go back and be sifting through everything to determine if someone said something that they should have said on July 1 or June 2, or are we going to identify that we all agree that we need to do better?
What can we do in terms of recommendations to ensure that we do better, that we do better in terms of our relationship with different entities in the provinces, such as BC Ferries? How do we prepare for what is not a dream, what is not fantasy? That is, we are going to be, to a high degree, masters of our own home in the sense of generating national wealth. What are we going to do to produce better in terms of industry? Those are the recommendations that I want to see.
I want to take this situation and I want to learn from it; I want to build upon it. I think that's what Canadians want us to do.
I think it is good that the opposition got us here today, because the reality is that we had some sunlight on some things. For example, there is the $1-billion loan—I stress “loan”—of which $690 million is going to the building of the vessels while $310 million is going to the electrification of infrastructure in B.C. I'd like to know how we maximize that, because most of that is going to be in B.C., right?
Among other things, I'd like to know this: How do we do everything we can to avoid getting here again? How do these institutions evolve at a rapid rate? The difference between now and 12 months ago is staggering in terms of our relationship with the Americans. Where do we need to go as a country in terms of development, in terms of jobs, in terms of the new economy and in terms of energy, whether that be oil and gas or whether that be renewables?
Those are the things that I'm hoping, and I look to people around this table, people who care about the federal side of things but also care about provincial rights and provincial economic wealth. How do we put forward recommendations to strengthen that based on what we heard today? That's what I'm hoping to achieve.
I don't cast any doubt that if you put forward a motion, that's your motion. I respect that, but honestly, in this motion, I don't think it's going to help us pivot; I don't think it's going to help us learn from this, and I don't think it's going to help British Columbians.
What we can do is be serious about what recommendations can come out of this committee that are going to impact industry in B.C., industry in Quebec, industry in Atlantic Canada. That's what we could be serious about.
That's just my opinion. That doesn't make it any different from or any better than a Conservative input or a Bloc input, but we're in a different time. We're at an inflection point in this country. We need to get these things right. Let's learn from it and build on it, or we can spend five, six, seven, eight meetings on having really important banter. Social media can have its thing. Conspiracy theorists can have their thing, and where are we?
I just defer to you, Mr. Chair, and anybody else who has their hand up. Thanks.