Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I rise to discuss a very important issue which is critical from an economic development perspective for the region of Atlantic Canada and, I would argue, for Canada. We are talking this afternoon about the issue of the survival and the overall competitiveness of a very fundamental industry.
My colleague from the Reform Party said earlier that he was unsure about why we did not table any specific initiatives in the question we put forth. I will share with him some of the rationale for why we chose that approach.
The wording in the question we chose today is the same policy initiative that was accepted and agreed upon by the Liberal Party of Canada at its policy conferences in 1988 and 1993. I would wager that many members who are sitting in the House today and will be sitting in the House come vote time actually voted for the very same initiative when they were before their own membership. I could not figure out why in any shape, way or form these members would vote against the same initiative.