Mr. Speaker, I begin by saying how disappointed I am that the member for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve does not appreciate the British humour of the Minister of Industry. This is something we on this side of the House are all quite proud of.
I want to tell the member for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve that we are committed to carrying out our promise to assist defence industries in transition from high technology military production to high technology civilian production.
The member knows, because this member is educated and he is very close to these issues, that this is not like buying a can of soup, putting it in a microwave and 20 seconds later it is ready to eat. This is a very complex issue. The exercise of converting these defence industries into industries that are going to be viable in peacetime is very complex.
The member should know that we are committed and we are working with several organizations, especially in Quebec. As he knows, in the February budget the DIPP program was explicitly targeted for redesign and we are working with many companies such as Oerlikon and Paramax, so I would ask the member to please bear with us.
I think by the time we return from China along with the member and 100 small and medium-sized businessmen from all over Canada who are going there with us, there will be even more action on the DIPP conversion program.