Mr. Speaker, the member has not hurt my feelings. It is fine. If he is not following the debate this evening, that is fine, but I hope time was not deducted for the point of order, because I have a lot more to say.
Building big and building projects is important to Canada, and the space project is equally important to Canada. If the member was listening earlier, he would know that some speeches did not even mention the word “space”, but I appreciate that he is giving some attention to what I am saying. I ask him to follow along.
I will continue with major projects. Manitoba at one time did launch rockets. There are opportunities in the future to have something of that nature once again. However, Canada does not today have a space pad that has the capability of launching things like satellites into orbit, which is why we need to work toward it.
This is, as I said, about building projects. In the province of Manitoba, the premier and many community leaders are working with the Government of Canada on ways in which we can expand the opportunity for Canada to have yet another port, a viable and strong port.
I am hoping the Conservatives will not adopt for the province of Manitoba the same attitude that they have for Nova Scotia . At the end of the day, if they had representation in Nova Scotia, they might actually be a little more sympathetic to what the Progressive Conservative premier is saying about Nova Scotia, as well as my colleagues within the Liberal caucus.
I will move on to the province of Saskatchewan and major projects. Think about what is being proposed to deal with things such as copper mines. Look at what is happening with canola, potash and some of the other projects being considered in the city of Calgary, where the Major Projects Office is actually located.
I move on to the province of Alberta and thinking in terms of an energy superpower and being more sovereign. Sovereignty matters to our government. I will get on to that right away as one of the other things we are doing. Not only do we have a memorandum of understanding with the progressive Conservative Premier of Alberta, but we now have an implementation strategy, an implementation plan, actually in progress that is expanding opportunities to become that energy superpower.
Take a look at British Columbia. Whether it is the mining of copper, or it is, again, LNG, we will find that these things are part of the major projects.
I will talk about the north. The Prime Minister was in Yellowknife not that long ago and talked about the importance of northern sovereignty. As a government, we are looking at over $30 billion in order to build and strengthen Canadian sovereignty up north. These are substantial commitments, because we have a government that sees the value of investing in Canadians and in the projects that are going to help ensure that Canada becomes the strongest country in the G7 and the fastest-growing on a per capita basis.
The results are already starting to be realized in different ways, whether it is in constructions or in jobs, with 88,000 jobs announced just last week for the month of May. In the last year, there has been a net increase of well over 100,000 jobs. I believe it is just over 150,000. There are many indicators of this, such as with investments. Foreign investment in Canada, on a per capita basis, is greater than in any of the G20 countries. Arguably, it might even be the best in the world.
These are the types of things that the Conservatives consistently overlook. They have adopted this attitude that Canada is broken, and they have to pump that message out, inside and outside the chamber, whether it is accurate or not, and it is not. That is the message they want to get out.
I think they need to turn the page and recognize what the Government of Canada is doing, and that is working collaboratively with the stakeholders, the provinces, indigenous people and a wide spectrum of individuals who are providing us with the opportunity to build a stronger and healthier economy, and a healthier society, an economy that works for all Canadians. That is our objective.
That is why we brought forward legislation to establish a space opportunity and space sovereignty. We understand and appreciate the valuable contributions that, in particular, the province of Nova Scotia can make in being able to establish that industry here in Canada. It is something that we should be proud of and be promoting. At the end of the day, it means improving the quality of life for all Canadians.