Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have three questions that are unrelated, in a sense. In one of the comments you made at the beginning you talked about significant shared sacrifices and we've talked a little about executive pay. We've said repeatedly that all the stakeholders need to be at the table, and it looks as though we have the stakeholders at the table right now.
Looking at the CAW press release issued November 21, I'm reading a quote from Ken Lewenza towards the bottom. He says,
Hundreds of thousands of jobs in Canada depend on a vibrant domestic auto industry. It's important to note that Canadian labour is a strength within our industry providing skills, productivity and quality that are internationally recognized.
I totally agree with that. I think we have a lot of respect for the workers and the skills they bring to their jobs in the auto industry.
Then he gets into some numbers in the press release. It says:
CAW labour costs equal seven per cent of the cost of a vehicle, an amount that is less than the dealer margin. At the current value of the Canadian dollar (82 cents U.S.) CAW labour is cheaper than auto labour in the U.S., Germany and Japan.
I'd like to get your comments on that statement from their news release. Is labour an issue here? And would you also comment on CAW costs of labour versus Toyota and Honda plants, for example, in Canada.