Madam Speaker, I often wonder what side of the House I am sitting on too, because last week the media had me over on that side for about three or four days and then they had me over here for a few days. Now I am back over there for a day or two but I am not going anywhere because I like it right here.
The member's question about cabotage is a good one. Cabotage is a control a government has to prevent other airlines from operating in its country. It is a common regulation. Countries do not allow airlines from other countries to operate in their countries. It is a kind of tariff. I would not support Canada lowering its tariffs on our airline industry without other countries reciprocating and allowing us access to their markets as well. I would not support lowering tariffs for Americans to ship products into Canada if we could not ship exactly the same product into the U.S. My point is that I do not think we should allow cabotage unless it is reciprocal.
We should not do that yet because from what I have seen, I believe there is a tremendous entrepreneurial instinct and effort in Canada in the aviation industry. It is extremely exhilarating and exciting when I listen to the new aviation companies that are on the frontier of the whole industry. They are exciting and aggressive people who are anxious to compete.
Let us see how good Canadians do before we start talking about cabotage. I would not consider cabotage unless it was reciprocal.