Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member from the other side of the country, from the great province of British Columbia, finally had an opportunity to visit Newfoundland. It is regrettable that it took a large convention and a sought after position to bring him to this part of the land, but we welcome him to the island.
I met with the dockyard workers and with the management this week in a meeting arranged by my colleague, the Minister of Transport. We had a very frank and open discussion about the future of the dockyard. There is currently an ongoing negotiation between an interested party and the dockyard management on a possible purchase of the dockyard. We will have an answer on the negotiation within a matter of days. Following that negotiation we will see whether or not it is successful. Other discussions are under way with the workers.
This problem requires careful attention, careful consideration, and will not be solved by unduly raising expectations or setting out simplistic solutions. I know my colleague who wants to assume the leadership of his party would agree with those criteria.