Mr. Speaker, with great respect to the member, it was his party, under Mr. Tobin, that initiated the national shipbuilding strategy, and it has been sitting on the Minister of Industry's desk since 2001. He does not have to write a new policy. We already have one.
The problem is that for the five years following, the Liberals let it gather dust. Now the Conservatives are letting it gather dust. The hon. member should know that we in the NDP do not have anything against trading deals with other countries. That is what we should be pursuing.
I am going to ask him this one question, because I know he is a very intelligent individual. When the United States enters into free trade deals, since 1924 it has excluded shipbuilding and marine services from the trade deals because it knows how vital and strategic that industry is to its economy and its country. If the United States does that, and it is our largest trading partner, why does Canada not do it?