Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's intervention today. It sounds to me like she has brought up some good examples, like Germany. Germany, obviously, with its Mittelstand of small and medium-sized manufacturers, is an excellent point. I think she should also reflect on the fact that every country comes to the trade game, so to speak, with a different collection of strengths and weaknesses. While there are certain things we can garner from looking at the German model, its apprenticeship system is quite different, and its whole economy is different in the fact that it is based on geographical areas. Labour is much different in the EU than it is here in Canada.
I would like a clarification. Is the member suggesting that we should only be looking at exporting and not trying to bring in imports from other countries?
The member mentioned David Ricardo. Part of David Ricardo's genius was in recognizing that mercantilism, that very strategy, producing exports and then reducing the amount of imports, does not work to everyone's benefit. What the member I think is advocating is a warmed-over neo-mercantilism.
Could the member please explain if that is what she is conveying? If not, could she give us a better example?