Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of comments and questions for my hon. colleague. I am left somewhat confused by his position with respect to shipbuilding. Maybe he can help me work it out.
He is saying that the EDC is actually supplying sufficient support to the shipbuilding industry and that the federal government is essentially doing the best it possibly can with respect to the industry.
Why would a candidate who actually ran in the riding of Lévis in the last election in 1997—I was a candidate and I know, Mr. Speaker, you were a candidate in that same election—make as one of his fundamental planks that we needed to have a new revitalized shipbuilding policy if everything was fine the way it was?
I am even more confused about a particular initiative. I know most Liberals sometimes get things a little mixed up or confused. The enter convention hall of the Liberal Party of Canada indicated as one of its policy initiatives that it was imperative the federal government take progressive steps to establish a new, revitalized shipbuilding policy for the country. They voted on that. The actual wording of the amendment we put forward today is very constructive. The entire Liberal Party of Canada actually voted at its congress to go ahead and do this.
If the candidate, the Liberal Party of Canada membership, the premiers, the shipbuilders association and the shipowners association all say that something has to be done, and labour is on side as well, I would say the member might want to take a look at it again and say that not everybody is happy with the so-called shipbuilding policy he put forward.