Mr. Speaker, we learned today that the MIL Davie shipyard in Levis will lay off another 300 employees this Friday, so there will be only 400 workers left there.
The federal government is the one to blame for these layoffs. Its failure to act on the issue of the Magdalen Islands ferry clearly shows its lack of sensitivity with regards to unemployment in Quebec.
The Minister of Transport even delights in creating confusion about the case. We no longer know who is really in charge, him or the Minister of Industry. In 1986, the federal government told the Quebec shipyard industry to get its things in order, which was done. There is only one large shipyard left in Quebec. It is now Ottawa's turn to make an effort to ensure the survival and
development of MIL Davie, as it committed to do in the last election campaign.