Mr. Speaker, I am the member for Lévis. Everyone knows that we have an big shipyard in my riding. I felt an obligation to take part in the debate on Bill C-28. Although not all its clauses deal with shipping, there is one that does, and that is clause 241.
The purpose of the motion now before us moved by the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot is to delete this clause. Why? For a number of reasons, one in particular. In our view, there appears to be a conflict of interest, because this bill was introduced by the Minister of Finance. Although his interests are held in a trust, he administers several shipping companies under one holding company known as Canada Steamship Lines.
This company has several ships, but also has subsidiaries. The main feature of these subsidiaries is that they are all over the map internationally. Clause 241 of the bill reads as follows:
- the corporation has as its principal business in the year the operation of ships that are used primarily in transporting passengers or goods in international traffic—
I asked myself why tax benefits were being given only to those in international shipping and with offshore interests.
In my opinion, this did not seem fair to the others because, ideally, a country's policy should promote its citizen's interests.
A number of companies administer the finance minister's interests in the shipping sector. The minister's interests are held in trust. The minister has companies in various sectors, but primarily in the shipping sector, and he has had them for a long time.
Some who made comments in this House said the Minister of Finance may have made a technical mistake by introducing the bill, since only one clause deals with international shipping. And we are told the minister did not take part in the drafting of that clause. Instead, he is said to have asked the Secretary of State for Financial Institutions to do it. Therefore, the minister would not be in a conflict of interest, or in an apparent conflict of interest.
This explanation leaves a bad taste in the mouth. We did not get clear answers to the questions we asked in the House and in the finance committee. We noticed that Mr. Wilson, the ethics counsellor, sometimes made statements that differed from what he wrote. All this does not seem very open, consistent or logical.
The issue deserves a closer look. We were told it was a technical mistake, but the whole issue must be put in the proper context.
Clause 241 of Bill C-28 is similar in every respect to clause 151 of Bill C-69, which was introduced last year and which, oddly enough, died on the Order Paper when the election was called. The Minister of Finance or his officials cannot claim it was an oversight, since Bill C-69 was also sponsored by the minister, which means the same mistake was made twice.
Talking about the election, I will tell the House a short story. During the election campaign, someone phoned and asked me to point out, during my campaign, that one of the ships belonging to Canada Steamship Lines was flying the flag of the Bahamas. When I checked the next day, things had suddenly changed: the ship was now registered in Canada. As members can see, one's image is important during an election campaign.
But the election is now behind us and we can see that the precautions taken were short lived. The Liberals forgot about being cautious, with the result that the Minister of Finance is again sponsoring a similar bill.
Clause 241 is a small provision. It should have been the concern not only of the Minister of Finance, but of all ministers who are allegedly concerned about Quebec's interests, especially those who were elected in Quebec. This matter should also have been a concern in the maritimes, for everyone with an interest in the shipyards. In 1993, the Liberal candidates at the time made a formal commitment to hold a summit on Canada's shipping industry. It was to be held during the Liberals' first mandate, but they did nothing.
About a month before he resigned, the New Brunswick premier, Mr. McKenna, was the chair of the provincial premiers' conference in St. Andrews. What did he do in the face of the drop in the number of jobs in Saint John? There is a major shipyard there too. When the work on the frigates for national defence ended, the number of jobs at Saint John Shipbuilding also dropped, as it did in all the small shipyards the company had bought in the maritimes. The same thing happened in the west. The same thing happened in the Great Lakes region, where Ontario's two remaining shipyards are to be found.
In four years the government has not held a summit and has not developed any new shipping policy. This is why Mr. McKenna along with all the other provincial premiers called for a real policy on shipbuilding.
The member for Mercier, who kept a close eye on the deliberations at the Liberal convention on the weekend, told me that the young Liberals moved a resolution to have the government establish a policy on shipbuilding.
I would therefore like to take this opportunity to remind those on the other side, the party in power at this time, of their promises of 1993, of the resolution passed by the young convention delegates this past weekend, of the adoption of a common position by all premiers at Saint Andrews last fall, promoted particularly by the former premier of New Brunswick, Mr. McKenna.
It seems to me that, in response to all that, the Minister of Industry ought to ask the Standing Committee on Industry to examine closely a new policy on shipbuilding. This policy ought to take into consideration the suggestions the Shipbuilders' Association of Canada has been making for at least a year, which boil down to four points. First of all, an improved export funding and loan guarantee program, similar to the one in the United States, should be implemented. Second, they call for new vessels built in Canadian shipyards to be exempted from the present Revenue Canada leasing regulations.
There should also be a reimbursable tax credit, somewhat similar to the Quebec government's measures on ships and drilling platforms that have been in place for at least a year. Finally, they call for elimination of the unilateral aspects of NAFTA which allow the Americans to send their ships here while we are not allowed to do the opposite.
I would point out very briefly that the United States has a very advantageous policy for shipbuilding. They do not, unfortunately, want to join with the countries calling for an end to subsidies. Consequently, for the past 20 years at least, the European countries involved in shipbuilding continue to subsidize their shipbuilders, as do the Asian countries.
Canada wants to play a lead role by saying that it will not do what they are trying to negotiate internationally. But, since we are one of only a few countries who do not, our shipbuilding industry is in the worst position of any in the world.