Madam Speaker, on March 27, I asked a question of the Minister of Industry relating to shipbuilding and to my concerns about the lack of government intervention to change the current situation in that industry.
According to figures I had myself checked the previous week, the workforce in that industry had gone down from the 1993 total of 12,000 to 3,000, or one-quarter, 25%, of that number.
The minister's response was that the overcapacity in this industry throughout the world stands at 40%.
I find this a curious response, because the assistant deputy minister, John Banigan, told the industry committee on November 16, 1999 that, based on certain predictions, he feared an overcapacity by 2005 which could, according to his own forecast, go as high as 40%.
Reports confirm that there will be a growing demand on the shipbuilding industry because, among the world's ocean-going fleet of vessels with gross tonnage of 100 tonnes or greater, there are 85,494 ships with an average age of 19 years, and 45% that are over 20 years old.
I remind hon. members of the significance of the 20 year figure. Most industrialized countries require that vessels undergo major refitting after 20 years to be allowed to continue sailing. This is not the case in all countries. That is the problem. This is why the international fleet is extremely old and, I submit, potentially dangerous.
Everybody will remember last summer's incident in the St. Lawrence River. There were other incidents along the coast of Brittany and in several countries of Asia. When dangerous and toxic products are on board, such incidents are a great cause for concern. They constitute a tremendous threat.
The minister is not here tonight, but his representative will undoubtedly try to explain on what he relied to conclude there was overcapacity when the deputy minister of industry says that we will certainly not reach that point before 2005.
On what secret study did the minister rely to say what he said? Maybe he made a mistake? If that is the case, I forgive him in advance.
I thank the hon. members opposite who support Bill C-213, whose objective is to help shipbuilding.