Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my Nova Scotia colleague from Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley for his hard work in support of the military and the economy.
The national shipbuilding procurement strategy was created to end the boom and bust cycle that was plaguing workers in the Canadian shipbuilding industry. Today in Nova Scotia, our Conservative government announced the signing of the definition contract with Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax for the Arctic/offshore patrol ship project. This will build on the important work that is being done in the design phase to see the Irving shipyard build the ships that the Royal Canadian Navy needs to protect our sovereignty and to carry out the type of coastal patrols that we need. We are proud of this contract—