Mr. Speaker, at the onset I congratulate you on your well earned appointment. I also congratulate the hon. member on her maiden speech.
The hon. member sang a hymn of praise to team Canada and told us about all the wonderful things that happened as a result of its overseas missions. The figures are in; I am sure she is aware of them. Our exports have dropped substantially to every area where there was a team Canada mission. This is a fact as presented in the government's own figures. If this is indeed the case, why is she so proud of the work of team Canada?
My second question, if she will be so kind as to address two of them, is with respect to internal trade barriers. She said the right things, that we have to bring down internal trade barriers. My question to her is when and how.
The Government of Canada has the constitutional power to do this. We have a constitution that says that interprovincial trade must be free and open. What does the government have in mind? When will it get off its tail and actually do it?