Mr. Speaker, I would like to pick up on some of the comments made by my hon. friend and colleague from Lévis.
This is a very serious issue. We need to ensure that we are debating the merits of the initiatives which were put forth by the member for Saint John and seconded by the member for Burin—St. George's. All members from all parties spoke about this issue. I do not think we need to overly attack the intentions of different members. The member from Lévis has worked very hard on advancing this particular file.
The member's comments during his speech were dead on in one regard. The future success of the shipbuilding industry in Canada is through the export sector in addition to domestic repair and new ships which will be built to replace the aging fleets in the Great Lakes. In order to do that, an export financing regime is needed to be competitive.
The Americans have had a regime entitled title IX which they extended in 1985. Previous to 1985 they were not a player in exporting ships internationally. Almost overnight they started to show up on the order book in the United States.
This is something we should be very embarrassed about, but a company in Canada, Secunda Marine, had to make a financial decision on where it could get the best ship at the best price. All it came down to was the financing. The price was competitive but in terms of having access to capital and lease financing that was cost competitive, it made a choice to have a ship built in the United States. Courtesy of what? Courtesy of title IX, the same financial vehicle which we are asking the government to address. That is my first issue. Why do we not actually look at something that works and adopt it?
I have a second question for the hon. member. The membership of the Liberal Party of Canada voted overwhelmingly to adopt the very wording of today's motion. The previous Liberal member who spoke said that there are lots of motions and things that they vote on at conventions, inferring that it does not necessarily mean something is going to happen to them.
I know the membership and the policy initiatives of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. I believe Reform speaks to this as well. The membership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada owns the principles and policies of our party. It is incumbent on us to follow through with them, to visit them and to bring them to the House of Commons. They are not something out of a feel good group therapy session for our party members. That is what the Liberal Party of Canada obviously feels this to be if the Liberals are going to vote it down.
If I were a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, and thank goodness I am not, I would have voted on issues and policy directives and then have come to Ottawa and voted on a particular initiative actually to find out that they cared less if it passed or not. Are you going to actually respect the membership of your own party?
And what is wrong with adopting a title XI regime?