Mr. Speaker, on March 4, I asked the Minister of Finance a question about shipbuilding. The Minister of Industry replied to my question. He did not answer satisfactorily in my opinion. On several occasions, I had questioned him in committee.
On October 28, 1997, he replied that it would be better to ask the Minister of Finance, who would perhaps be in a better position to answer my question about shipbuilding and tax credits. Similarly, on April 22, 1998, the Minister of Industry told me that many issues were not the responsibility of his department, but rather that of the Secretary of State for International Financial Institutions or the Minister for International Trade.
On March 4, I directed my question to the Minister of Finance, but the Minister of Industry replied. What can we do? I note that, today, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture is likely to be responding, because he is the only member I can see at the moment.
Are we to give up and be content with the government's game of ping-pong and incomplete responses? We can see easily that the Minister of Industry relies on the Minister of Finance. The latter does not want to intervene, because he already has interests in Canada Steamship Lines. The Minister of Transport says he no longer controls the St. Lawrence Seaway following privatization. As for the Minister for International Trade, he has often been unable to answer our questions on the interventions of the Export Development Corporation. When he finally did answer, it was some two years later, on the Spirit of Columbus . In this context, I would like to know who I should speak to in order to get a response, if not action.
The Liberal government has not yet managed to explain why it is refusing to harmonize federal tax measures with those of Quebec. It has yet to explain why, by taxing the tax advantages of the shipbuilding industry, it is obliged to cancel the beneficial effect of the tax deductions offered by Quebec in order to stimulate this industry.
The government has not explained why it does not deign to propose measures of greater benefit to shipbuilding. It has yet to say why it is refusing to establish a real policy on shipbuilding, as all the representatives of the shipping industry have been asking it to do for months.
I plan to continue my campaign in favour of a real shipbuilding policy, which I began a few months ago. I am very pleased to see that more and more business people, union leaders and politicians are taking up the cause.
I am particularly pleased at how this issue has brought people together. Two examples are the coalition of opposition parties I formed on December 8 in Ottawa and the coalition of unions the Davie Industries union managed to get, two groups of stakeholders that are beginning to ask the government serious questions.
I take this opportunity to urge people to send in the postcard calling for a genuine shipbuilding policy in Canada. Since no postage is required on letters to MPs, I particularly urge the residents of Lévis-et-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière and other citizens throughout Canada, in the maritimes and British Columbia, as well as in Quebec, along with the unions, to send it in. We must show that Canadians are not happy with the national shipbuilding policy the Minister of Industry says he has and that he says he knows nothing about. He is forever passing the buck to other ministers, and we never get an answer.