Mr. Speaker, as part of the Canada-U.S. parliamentary association, the member and I travelled to the U.S., along with members from all parties.
What I really appreciated about the member's participation in that mission to Washington a few months ago, regardless of the differences we may have in the House on various trade issues, is that he was not focused on defending partisan interests or fighting the partisan battles at home but in defending Canadian interests. I would say that about my Bloc colleagues and the Conservatives. When we were in Washington, we worked together to defend Canadian interests.
The Canada-U.S. parliamentary association in some ways creates or provides the model that Parliament ought to have when we are defending our interests internationally, putting away some of the ideological differences and seeking a common cause as we go forward.
I agree with him that this particular deal was based more on the Conservatives' desire to have a photo op and some sort of political announcement domestically prior to the one year anniversary of the buy American deal than it was in developing a long-term approach. That being the case, I want to see this debate go from what the Conservatives failed to get to what we as a Parliament, all parties working together, ought to try to get for the future.
To make this more constructive, we should change the channels and move away from the narrow partisan advantage I could score focusing on the Conservative failures to a more constructive approach in terms of what we all could do working together and sharing ideas on how to deepen the relationship between Canada and the U.S. and ensuring we are better able to defend our interests next time.