We have argued that the current crisis in the auto industry is global in nature, and I think that's worth keeping in mind. The auto industry has very high fixed-cost investment requirements. Before a single vehicle is produced, an automaker has had to invest billions of dollars in the fixed plant for equipment, technology, product design, marketing, administration, and any fixed costs associated with labour.
The fact that auto sales have fallen now around the world--not just in the U.S.--by 20% to 40% means that those automakers are in desperate straits around the world. So even Toyota is asking for emergency loans from the Japanese government. Governments around the world are stepping up to the plate.
What is unique about North America in this regard is the intensity of the finger pointing at workers and their unions. That is unique to the United States and Canada, and they are the only two countries I'm aware of where the government has made labour concessions a condition for providing assistance to the automakers. They haven't done that in Europe, Japan, or China. In fact, in Japan the government is subsidizing auto wages as a way of trying to smooth the downturn there.
So that's the context. We're facing a very broad global crisis in the industry, where the workers and their wages didn't cause the crisis--I don't think there's a credible story to be told that this crisis is the result of workers' wages--and where most governments are responding by trying to bring labour in as a partner in that process.
In Canada we're trying to do that. Both the federal and provincial governments have consulted with us in this regard, and we're looking forward to being part of the solution. But in the broader culture you'll detect a lot of anti-union enmity, and that is a negative barrier for us as a country in trying to pull together everything we need to make sure we have an auto industry. That kind of finger pointing doesn't help us at all.