Mr. Speaker, I listened with a great deal of interest to my colleague who has outlined a number of proposals that I think would be very constructive and I am sure that they will be considered by the Minister of Finance.
I have known the hon. member for a number of years. He has worked diligently over the years in trying to be productive and positive and constructive in this place and I think that he has contributed a great deal in his pre-budget debate that we are having in the House of Commons.
However, I just want to throw out a couple of other things that I think would aid not just the region but aid nationally in our two pronged approach. One is, obviously, to create jobs and to stimulate the economy through the budget that will be coming down. Another is to try as best as we possibly can to tame that demon that is called the national deficit and spiralling debt.
One of the things that I think clearly could be done, and my colleague here who is chair of the Atlantic caucus might wish to comment, is to have the Minister of Finance address the real problems affecting the competitiveness of the port of Halifax. That will impact on the entire Atlantic region and will create jobs all throughout the economy.
The problem with the port of Halifax and its competitiveness is not the port itself, it is the rail line which goes up through Nova Scotia, through New Brunswick and into Quebec. Over the last number of years we have seen that rail link become less competitive. The rates have not gone down, they have gone up. The on time delivery, the length of time that it takes have all impacted in a very major way on whether we have competitive businesses in Atlantic Canada and whether the port of Halifax would be poised to take advantage of the new global trade routes.
In the past I have raised in this House, and it was supported by members of the Atlantic Liberal caucus in opposition, that the Minister of Finance or the Minister of Transport of the day could look at two very simple things that would have a major impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of rail transportation in Atlantic Canada.
After all, if we do not have viable modes of transport in Atlantic Canada we will not have industry. It is as simple as that. We are not close enough to our markets.
One of the things that we have suggested is that the Minister of Finance look at the possibility of accelerating the rate of depreciation for new rolling stock. That would put Canadian railroads on an even footing with American railroads. It is budgetary. It is a fiscal measure that can be taken that does not really cost money but which could have a major impact on the competitiveness of products travelling over the rail lines in Atlantic Canada.
The second thing we could do, clearly, is to look at the avoidable costs of rail transportation. We need viable rail service in Atlantic Canada to be competitive. One of the things that has been suggested by the Atlantic Provinces Transportation Commission is that the federal government remove the excise tax on diesel fuel used for the transportation of goods by rail in Canada.
Those two measures alone, which we begged the previous government to look at, would increase in a substantial way the competitive movement of goods through the Atlantic provinces, not just into Quebec and central Canadian and western Canadian markets, but down into the midwestern markets.
I would ask the member who has just given his speech, and a very good address, if he could comment about those types of things, those regulatory changes which in a major way could have an impact on the viability of competitive industries, not just in Halifax, not just in Dartmouth, but in his area as well in New Brunswick.