Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member has matters confused. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs I am responsible for questions of allowing export permits on defence related matters. Therefore it falls within my responsibility.
We work very closely with the Minister for International Trade and the officials on the trade side. In fact they have been part of the negotiations. What I am saying at this point in time is that we regret the decision taken by the United States government. We think it works against the interest of both Canadian and U.S. industries. We will take up the matter directly with the secretary of state on Friday.