Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from the NDP for his presentation and his full support.
What is most disturbing to me, and I am probably the most non-political person who sits in the House of Commons, are the letters which the Minister of Industry wrote when he was the industry critic, replying to people who were working in the shipyards. They got in touch with him when he was in opposition and his reply was “Please be assured that the shipbuilding industry is a priority for me as it is for my caucus colleagues”, and he said that they would be doing something about the situation.
A lot of families are breaking up. There were 200 people in my riding who were asked to go to Louisiana, U.S.A., to work. They were told they were the best shipbuilders who had been interviewed from around the world. I am really concerned about what is happening.
I know that our boys back home have sat down with the owners of our shipyard. They have made concessions. They will do whatever is necessary to bring work into the shipyard.
Does my colleague think that we could honestly, all of us collectively, convince our colleagues on the government side that they should agree with and adopt the motion? Then they could come to us and say that they agree there has to be a new shipbuilding policy. They could say that they will take steps to bring intergovernmental affairs, finance and industry together to see what could be worked out. They could take the credit for that. All we want to do is put our people back to work and give them their dignity.
Does my hon. colleague think we could convince them today to do this?