Madam Speaker, I could not agree more. One of the greatest sources of pride Canadians have is that Canada is a force for balance and peace in the world. Canada traditionally has played a role and has been seen as an honest broker, an independent third party in things that are going on in the world. It uses its goodwill and the notion that it is not a satellite of any other power, to exert its force in a way that really punches above its weight.
This has trade implications as well because at the end of the day, trade is all about the strength and force of our relationships. If we are not working on those relationships, if we are not demonstrating in meaningful ways that our first objective is to take a fair and balanced approach in how we deal with international affairs, we can greatly hurt our ability to trade effectively.
The member also commented on energy security. I completely agree. I will not reiterate what he said other than to say that I agree.
Lastly, with respect to the environmental crisis, we just heard today that the scant measures taken by the Conservative government, for example the transit credit, have resulted in absolutely no reductions. Yet again, it was placebo policy. The difference in this case is that it actually cost us a lot of money to get to nowhere. That might have been fine when the United States was so far behind in ignoring environmental issues, but now that there is an administration in the United States that puts the environment at the centre of its economic growth and development, we risk falling behind the Americans tremendously in allowing them to create the jobs of the future.
If we thought that the Internet was a source for growth and new development in innovation, it is nothing compared to the post-carbon technologies that are going to come. We should not be allowing the Americans to develop that technology and those jobs. In the last three years we have given up the opportunity to lead in those areas.