Mr. Speaker, what a load of claptrap.
For members and people who are watching from Cariboo--Prince George, this is the member who did not even bother to read the softwood lumber sellout. They can look that up in the Prince George Citizen. He did not even do that on behalf of his constituents. The result has been hundreds of lost jobs in Cariboo--Prince George.
For the folks who want to look that up, it was in the online edition of the Prince George Citizen a couple of years ago.
Perhaps he has read this agreement. I certainly hope so, but the shipbuilding industry does not see this as good news. In fact, the shipbuilding industry came before committee to ask unanimously to be carved out. Those were shipyard workers from Halifax, shipyard workers from Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Shipbuilding Association of Canada.
They were very clear. George MacPherson said that the position of the association from day one was that shipbuilding should be carved out from the EFTA. Mr. Andrew McArthur said, “It is not only the EFTA that concerns us. The ground rules may be set.... Once you've set the ground rules...the industry would be in very tough conditions”.
Why does the member think he knows more about shipbuilding than all the shipbuilding association representatives and workers who said, “No. Carve this out of the agreement”?