Mr. Speaker, I am not unsympathetic to the private member's bill put forward by my colleague, because I understand his concern. Canada was once a great shipbuilding nation and there are niche markets in which we could probably still operate, given the opportunity.
Unfortunately, there is a severe overcapacity in the shipbuilding industry worldwide. The origins of that overcapacity in shipbuilding relate directly to heavily subsidized operations in other countries. Indeed, protected markets and subsidies are major obstacles facing Canadian shipbuilders. Nonetheless, we do not help matters by slapping a 25% duty on non-NAFTA imports ourselves. I think that sets the wrong tone.
The world is fraught with overcapacity and trade distorting subsidies, and the future is not bright for these industries.
The Canadian government could help. It could do something about this. For example, we could take on the U.S. in trade negotiations and try to strike down the Jones Act, which is hurting Canadian shipbuilders to a great degree.
We could do other things. We could try to get relief by having worldwide subsidies reduced through trade negotiations at the WTO.
We could do something at home. We could reduce taxes, not only to the shipbuilding industry, but to all industries in Canada. That would be a big help. We could move to a different tax regime in which we would have accelerated capital cost write-offs. Those are things which we could do something about in our own backyard.
The Canadian Alliance believes that there needs to be a healthy shipbuilding industry as well. Certainly there are things like ferries and tugs and special niche markets in which Canada could operate, given a level playing field. Unfortunately, we do not have that level playing field, just like we do not have it in agriculture. Other countries are subsidizing their shipbuilding industries. Canada should not be the boy scouts in this kind of situation. We should not stand by when our industries are being severely affected. The agriculture and shipbuilding industries are severely disadvantaged. We have to take a much stronger stance at trade talks and we have to protect our vital interests.
Having said that, I believe that our shipbuilding industry, along with other industries, has to operate within the confines of a market economy. Once we are able to achieve those negotiations, if we are able to achieve them, then the industry should be able to stand on its own two feet and not receive subsidized loans from the federal government. That is our position. We should have a strong shipbuilding industry, but we have to put the proper environment in place.