Mr. Speaker, I will talk about two things. First, with tongue in cheek, I might say that the Liberal icebreaker policy is to wait until there is no more ice, then there will be nothing to break. That is a stupid joke, but that is okay. I wanted to make it. Now, let us get down to business.
I am from Quebec City. I am 53 and I was a journalist for 20 years. I have heard a lot about the Davie shipyard in my time and, unfortunately, it has not always been good things. However, one of the Davie shipyard's great successes was the Asterix supply ship. Our government signed the letter of agreement so that the Davie shipyard could design and build a supply ship for the navy. It was to be built from an old ship at the Davie shipyard.
These people finished building the supply ship on time and on budget. It was a great success. They are now ready to build the second supply ship, the Obelix. The table has been set, but unfortunately the government is refusing to move forward. What is worse, the Prime Minister went to Quebec City in January. He turned on the charm for the people at the Davie shipyard—and interestingly, this time he wore his suit instead of dressing up like a dock worker—but nothing came of it. There was a lot of talk but no action.
We are holding the line. The government must give the Davie shipyard the contract for the Obelix, not as an act of charity or because the workers are nice people, but because the Davie shipyard deserves it, because those workers built the Asterix on time and on budget. They are prepared to build the Obelix. That would be good for all of Canada.