Madam Speaker, this is a clear demonstration that when government members totally lose an argument they go ballistic, start shrieking and stay away from the facts. My colleague from Vancouver Island North has been on the file consistently. We will send to the hon. member Hansard citations of how many times in the last three years official opposition members have stood in the House and addressed the file.
Why was the hon. member not listening moments ago when I talked about not only British Columbia but the thousands of people out of work in Quebec? I was in Quebec three weeks ago in places like Chicoutimi talking to people affected by the file. It appears the hon. member has accepted the performance standard of his Prime Minister. He does not listen. He does not care. He does not stick to the facts.
Madam Speaker, I may not have indicated it earlier but I will be sharing my time with the member for Saanich--Gulf Islands. He will be addressing the issue as well.
The government and its failed red books have talked about jobs, jobs, jobs. When tens of thousands of Canadians were thrown out of work as the deadline was drawing near, where was the Prime Minister? He was in Russia. There is nothing wrong with pursuing trade with Russia. However we do more trade with the United States in a day than with Russia in a year.
The government has not been on the file. We have the citations to prove it. I have been at the meetings. The hon. member does not listen and does not care.