Mr. Speaker, the member raises an excellent point. As I have indicated, the economy both domestically and internationally is an entirely different one than it was even a year ago, even six months ago. I believe we are undoubtedly in a domestic recession and a large international recession. One of the first signs of that has been and will continue to be a reduction in trade, both exports and imports, from Canada and many other jurisdictions. This is a unique opportunity for us to reconsider our trade policy and in particular, the role of EDC.
There have been some times that the government and some of its ministers have been willing to look beyond the status quo, beyond the old way of doing things. I would encourage the government to adopt the attitude of change, of reform, of free markets even though it may not suit its ideology from time to time. This is such an instance.
The government should look at taking the functions of EDC and putting them in the private sector which could be better served that way. That would assist our export companies at this time of uncertainty that we are now encountering at the international level.