Mr. Speaker, I again want to highlight my hon. colleague, who has done an outstanding job in committee and the House by raising the spectre of what may happen to the shipbuilding industry if these particular policies carry on.
My hon. colleague is a learned gentleman. He is not asking for anything that is against the WTO or the GATS. He is not asking for anything illegal. What he is asking for is fairness in representation of the facts when it comes to shipyard workers, shipowners and shipbuilders in the five major yards we have left in Canada.
We know for certain that if we were to get the carve-out of shipbuilding, Norway would raise concerns and might back away from it. That leads to one of the questions I would like to ask my hon. colleague. Why would Norway be so hinged on shipbuilding? We understand that there is a scaled reduction of the tariff over 15 years, but we know very well that favourable tax policies in Norway can offset that.
The reality is that our largest trading partner is the United States, and this is the crux of the matter in my argument. Every single FTA it has signed since 1924 specifically carves out shipbuilding and marine services. It is our largest trading partner. Why would Canada not legally do the same, in order to protect the interests of our shipyards and workers in this country?