Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to my hon. colleague.
Last summer he worked hard on this bill. He will table a private member's bill this week or next week. This legislation will require the support of the members from all the provinces.
I would like to compliment his efforts and ask him about one particular initiative. The free trade act has been very solid for this country in terms of augmenting our trade. That is beyond dispute. However, given that the Jones act was exempt, even though we got a pretty good deal for the country in general, would it not be a decent idea for us to say to the Americans that we should develop some kind of bilateral accord for developing certain types of ships so we could get some market penetration? I would recommend perhaps shipshape drilling hauls where they are having a capacity problem.
We should begin an initiative sector by sector by going after certain types of ships as a starting point. Would he agree that is a good initiative in beginning to break down the trade barriers?