Mr. Speaker, the hon. member from Nova Scotia is absolutely correct.
I want to tell him that one in eight of all merchant navy men were killed during the war. He was commenting about his father in Newfoundland. In Saint John, New Brunswick on Partridge Island we are the most Irish city there is in Canada and there were bunkers there. Our men were in those bunkers because those German ships were right outside Saint John, New Brunswick. They were looking for the merchant navy men and were ordered to get them before they could get overseas to Europe with the supplies that were needed.
It has been estimated that a Canadian merchant ship with 10,000 tonnes could carry enough foodstuff to feed 225,000 people for a week. Cargo could also include clothing, fuel, steel, aluminum, lumber, aircraft, tanks, jeeps, trucks, guns, munitions and whatever else was required for the war effort. Not surprisingly they became the prize targets for enemy surface raiders and U-boats. That is exactly what they were. That is the reason for it.