Madam Speaker, I would like to add that I support the point the hon. member for Chambly made quite eloquently about the major impact this bill will have on Quebec in particular.
Since the rules of this House do not allow us to speak of the absent, I am delighted to see that the minister responsible for Quebec is here. I think that references to someone's presence are allowed. At any rate, he is here and he has been all ears, especially since the remarks made by the last few speakers, including the very significant remarks made by the hon. member for Richelieu, have also attracted another minister from Quebec, I think.
It seems that our efforts to catch the attention of ministers from Quebec through our arguments are starting to pay off. Great. We commend them for being here and for listening to what we have to
say. We must take advantage of their being here to go over the economic considerations coming into play.
Let me remind the House that the Minister of Finance told the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to come up with savings of $120 million over four or five years.
For this year alone, the finance minister's order is for $20 million. What were the options? The minister first considered implementing a fee structure. I need not elaborate on this subject, as my colleagues discussed it at length, but I feel that there would be room for improvement and, if the Liberals agree to defer consideration of this bill at third reading until the fall, this might be a good time to invite suggestions.
Here is what I have to suggest, in my personal capacity and as a member from the Quebec City area, after wondering if it would not be possible to further streamline coast guard services. Indeed, this is an option the administrator of the port in Trois-Rivières had come up with some time ago. He said: "At present, all of eastern Canada is divided into three areas and administered by three separate regional directorates. Why not consider merging the three into a single regional directorate for the whole region? This would cut costs by at least $17 million, with $2 million in savings coming just from moving icebreakers from the maritimes to bases located closer areas where the Coast Guard operates".
It is surprising indeed that nine icebreakers are currently based in Halifax, when we know that the eastern coast of Nova Scotia is ice free year round. That is incredible. Icebreakers are based in locations where there is no ice. To break the ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, they must travel 460 kilometres from their home base. Only four icebreakers are based in Quebec City's harbour. In 1993, there was an incident and it took more than five days for an icebreaker to travel to Lac Saint-Pierre, to break the ice that completely paralysed marine traffic.
Since 85 per cent of the goods transiting through the Cabot Strait are headed for ports in the St. Lawrence, it would make sense to establish the regional centre in Quebec. A journalist recently said I wanted to have the centre in Saint-Romuald, in my riding. I am not asking for that much. I am not trying to convince the minister responsible, but the centre should at least be located in Quebec, in the most appropriate location, since that is where icebreakers are needed, in the St. Lawrence River and in the gulf.
There are other issues which come to mind. The Louis S. Saint-Laurent , an icebreaker, costs $56,500 a day. It is the most costly ship to operate in the whole coast guard fleet. If we stopped using it, we would save $12.4 million. Why are we making this request? It is because the Louis S. Saint-Laurent has not been used to break the ice in the last five years. It was used for all sorts of other tasks. In other words, we were able to do without it.
It comes down to one thing: Why would rescue operations not be taken over by others? The Auditor General of Canada tells us they could be taken over, for instance, by the Canadian Navy, since it already does rescue work. I am not saying the coast guard is not doing a good job in Quebec, quite the contrary. However, since we must streamline operations, we should, instead of increasing fees, better integrate these services.
I know that other members wish to speak on Group No. 13.
Since there is only a half hour left to discuss this group, I will conclude by paying tribute to the hon. member for Vancouver Quadra and by asking the Secretary of State responsible for Quebec to use his influence within the Liberal caucus, so that third reading be postponed until the fall to allow the various stakeholders to make suggestions.