Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the motion proposed by the hon. member for Saint John. This is a votable motion as should be the case in most activities in this House whether initiated by the government or as is the case here, by an individual member.
I will be supporting this motion. My comments will serve to demonstrate how two parties with supposedly different political outlooks can arrive at an agreement as to an outcome. Where we have disagreements is with respect to the specific processes by which mutually agreed upon outcomes can be arrived at.
By this motion the hon. member seeks the approval of this House to call upon the government to develop a new national shipbuilding policy to support the revitalization of the Canadian shipbuilding industry. The member asserts in her motion that historically Canadians have been viewed as among the finest shipbuilders in the world.
The motion addressed here today involves an assumption that our current shipbuilding industry is in a somewhat spent state and hence requires revitalization. This would rank well in the annals of understatements. There is also in the hon. member's motion an implicit view that the shipbuilding excellence and related technological advancements associated with Canadian shipbuilding are both in peril. I am in agreement with these views as well.
I have been able to develop a degree of familiarity with Canada's wartime marine history. I, along with the member for Saint John, have been a staunch advocate of the position of our merchant marine veterans who seek equivalent recognition, benefits and compensation for denial of equality relative to their wartime service in defence of Canada. Twelve thousand men and women served. Over 70 ships were sunk out from under them.
If we think of the history of Canada, the history of its ships comes easily to mind, the Bluenose being the most famous of Canadian ships. In my own family history, at the turn of the century Captain Richard Goldring sailed a commercial schooner aptly named the Maple Leaf from Port Whitby, Ontario.
However, in speaking of the nature of shipbuilding in modern day commerce we are talking about ocean-going supertankers and mega passenger vessels of such size they cannot be accommodated by even the Panama Canal. Some are specifically intended for one ocean travel only. Vessels of this magnitude need to be developed and constructed by world class companies.
World class companies become so by building on their experiences. Such experience exists in the Canadian shipbuilding industry. We must develop an approach to build on such experience and to assist in the creation of world class shipbuilders that are properly reflective of our history and expertise.
We were the leaders in the construction of wooden ships. Tall ships were the daily occurrence in Quebec City and Montreal with the St. Lawrence River being the portal of entry, a route of imports and exports, both cargo and human. Immigration to Canada was the result of our shipbuilding skills. The face of our nation is very much due to our shipbuilding efforts. Most immigrants came to Canada in Canadian built ships.
What happened to cause a decline in the shipbuilding industry to its current state? I suggest that the shipbuilding industry has been lost twice in Canadian history and in both cases the loss has been primarily due to research and development deficiencies.
The first decline occurred in the transition from wooden to steel ships at the turn of the century. At the time, Canadian shipyards in Quebec and the maritimes built most ships of commerce used by England and many other countries. Then we lagged behind Britain where the steel industry was already well integrated with the shipbuilding industry.
At the time, our history was that of exporting our natural resources to be manufactured elsewhere. The one notable exception, being of course wooden shipbuilding, was where Canada excelled. The interrelationship between the steel industry and the shipbuilding industry in Canada did not occur readily. The technological transfer from wood to steel simply did not happen.
I have said that we lost our shipbuilding industry twice. The second occasion was after the second world war. During the war our shipbuilding expertise was as renowned as the member's motion would have us believe. After the war however, it seemed that once again the tendency toward looking inward and to not exploit competitive advantages took hold yet once again.
We know for example that many of the difficulties of our merchant navy veterans had to do with the fact that after the war it was assumed our shipping industry would continue to be robust and that the merchant navy veterans would have no job worries. We know that within five short years after World War II many of our merchant mariners were unemployed. Shipping interests had focused on other parts of the world, taking much of their shipbuilding needs with them.
Once again the technological transfer from war purpose vessels to commerce efficient vessels did not take place. Canada's shipyards went into decline. Canada was once a major player in the global shipbuilding industry. Over the decades the history of Canadian shipbuilding has had its ups and downs, the highest demand coming during the war years.
For every one direct job lost in the shipbuilding industry, there are two or more jobs lost in the local economy. What was once an important employer in Canada has withered to the point where we cannot even meet our own modest shipbuilding needs let alone become a player in the global market.
In my view, I would suggest in the experience of most Canadians, economies do not gain any sustaining strength through government subsidies. Government subsidies do not in the long term make any industry strong. Instead, industry must gain its strength through trading internationally in the global peacetime economy.
What is the incentive for long term research and development if the government is there to pick up, or contract, or otherwise bail you out? It should be noted that the shipbuilding industry itself contributes little to its own research and development by world standards.
I will briefly mention taxation. It would appear to be self-evident that if income taxes are higher, wage demands will be higher. We see this in the auto industry and other industries which are attempting to compete globally. What people look to is what they are netting after taxes. Gross salary is largely irrelevant other than as some misguided notion of status or position.
Without getting into great detail, I would suggest that any thought of revitalization of the shipbuilding industry has to be based on a mix of lower taxes and enhanced freedom with respect to international trade. The answer to our problems is not to be found in further government subsidies, but to level the playing field for international trade.
Our country has the raw materials. It has the ports and it has the shipyards. It has the willing capable workers. Canada even has a 75 cent dollar selling price compared to the American dollar. Why are there no sales of Canadian made ships? High taxes and trade barriers. That is why.