Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate and thank my hon. colleague for the speech he has given.
As a nation we have been facing serious economic difficulties for a long time. It is interesting to hear how economic leaders in other parts of the country talk about Canada. When they are asked what is wrong with our economic system in their eyes, they point to things that we talk about consistently in this place. They say first of all “Your debt is way too high”. Second they say “Your taxes are way too high”. Third they say “You have not had a plan for 25 years. You do not know where you are going”.
I listen to my colleague talk about the softwood agreement, the quota system, a system that has affected mills in my constituency, particularly the newer mills but now even the large traditional mills are complaining about the difficulties of this agreement. It strikes me that here we are again in a situation. Two years ago when we were talking about this quota agreement and I was raising objections, I was being told this is the answer to our problem. Clearly this is a matter where long term planning was not brought into effect. Less than two years after this agreement has come into force, our mills are in trouble with it.
It is the issue of long term planning that I am raising again, an issue that affects us in every sphere of this government's jurisdiction and rule. Whether it is health care, whether it is our pensions, whether it is our trade policies and trade agreements, we lack a vision of the future which takes into account the needs of our children and our grandchildren.
The difficulty now is that we have come to a point in the technological advance of the world where simply having forests that have not been harvested, mines that have not been opened up, oil wells that have not been drilled is not enough. We have to have a plan on the table. We have to have a future in mind. And we have to be able to direct our people and our companies in a way that they can take advantage of the opportunities that lead to that future.
Does my hon. colleague see in this legislation the long term planning that is necessary to rationalize the agreements that they affect, or are we simply stumbling along from day to day as we have so frequently in the past? Is this just another example of that?