Mr. Speaker, I got to know my colleague across the way better during a trip to Taiwan, where our group visited the giant Kao-hsiung shipyards. We could see that they too were experiencing certain difficulties, which leads me to make a point.
We often compare our shipbuilding facilities to those in Asia, but the ones in Canada, in Saint John, Lévis or elsewhere, have developed different areas of expertise than those of Asia, which were designed mainly for building ships in excess of 300,000 tonnes.
We have to take away some of the mystery. Most ships built in Canada have to use the Panama canal, so our dry docks are made for tonnages of 90,000 or less.
Each of Canada's shipyards has an area of specialization, for instance, aluminum ferries in B.C., military vessels in Halifax. Each, therefore, including St. Catharines and Port Weller, has highly specialized and highly advanced equipment. This is not, therefore, where the problem lies.
The problem is raised by the hon. member for Saint John. In my opinion, Canada's attitude can be considered naïve.
On the one hand, we depend on the OECD treaties, while the European countries, seeing that the Americans are not signing them, are adopting interim measures. These include subsidies.
The hon. member also refers to the EDC. That is all very well, but allow me to cite an example. Just recently, a few weeks ago, two years after the arrival of the Spirit of Columbus platform and after Davie Shipbuilding was at risk of closure because of the lack of funding guarantees, the EDC finally came through. The funding guarantees should have been available right from the start.
There are, therefore, certain possibilities, but the mechanisms for evaluation operate far too slowly.
I would like to have the hon. member's reaction to this.