Mr. Chair, the member raises several excellent points. Rallying the Canadian public to this cause is a very interesting proposal because there are so many issues in the lives of individual citizens.
His riding, like mine, is a very large rural area. He knows how difficult it is sometimes to get the attention of rural issues in the cities. Thankfully, we have this chamber this evening, and other times, to bring to the attention of the larger population the issues of rural Canada. Even though our mills are in rural areas and our forest workers are in the bush, Canadians should know that the corporate head offices of these businesses, which employ many people, are in the cities. There are many jobs in the cities supported by the rural enterprise and undertakings of the forestry sector.
To rally the public, I would welcome his ideas. I am sure the government would welcome the ideas of all members on how to rally and engage the Canadian public in this cause. We see Canadians get excited about an Olympic gold medal game or about some other international event such as the Terry Fox runs every September. Those are important. To rally Canadians around this cause, we in this House are doing our part. We call on the industry, the unions and the communities involved to help us in that regard.
More important, to get the attention of the American consuming public and the American legislators, he suggested we maybe need to find new and innovative ways to do that. As it is to engage the Canadians on it, we do need to find innovative measures for our American friends. It seems to me that average American citizens, just because of the nature of their news, are not as engaged with the international community as Canadians typically are. That is not a fault of the Americans. That is the structure of their news information.
His idea is that we need to stand on the steps of the federal and state legislatures in the U.S. and inform consumers directly, much like our Prime Minister did in New York a few weeks ago when he laid it out clearly. He was criticized by some members for speaking out and pushing the envelope on what kind of things Canada would need to do if its major trading partner did not obey its agreement. This would include looking around the world for other opportunities where we can find stability in our trading relationships, maybe with others who would not as likely take us for granted.
The member's comments are very appropriate and we should pay attention to them.