I want to speak further about the importance of having a strong review of foreign takeovers.
Of course we want investment when it creates jobs in Canada, when it stimulates the economy, but far too often we've seen foreign takeovers that have resulted in a net loss of jobs, so one has to ask, where is the net benefit to Canada? Given that there is currently no test in the legislation for a net benefit to Canada, I think many thousands of people, certainly in my province of Ontario, and in other places across the country, would argue that their lives have materially not benefited from a foreign takeover.
I want to refer to one case very specifically, which is Electro-Motive owned by Caterpillar, in the London area. Caterpillar took over a company that was 64 years old, a company that had been profitable, by the way, and that the Prime Minister had visited and championed investment in, and then allowed it to be taken over by a foreign company. Almost immediately, the company said they were going to cut wages in the workplace by 50%—that's 50%—and then locked out the workers in that plant, who naturally refused to comply. Then, the day after right-to-work legislation was passed in the U.S., just across the border, they shut down the plant—after months of these people being on lockout—and moved the facility to the U.S. In essence, Canada lost a very productive and profitable company that had been in operation for more than 60 years.
Of the vast majority of people who worked in that facility—where there were more than 500 good-paying jobs, family supporting jobs—fewer than 20 people were able to relocate to other parts of the country to work there because of family commitments or roots in their community. Most of the others have found very low-paid, precarious jobs that certainly have dramatically reduced their lifestyle.
One has to ask: where is the net benefit to Canada when we allow these kinds of foreign takeovers, with no transparency and no clear rules, that clearly have not benefited the people involved, the workers, the communities, the spinoff businesses that have been involved and linked to a company like this? Again, we're talking about a company that was profitable.
This government is no different from the previous government, because they were asleep at the switch in allowing all these foreign takeovers. In all the many thousands of foreign takeovers that have taken place in this country since the Investment Canada Act came into being, I believe only two have been blocked. Many of the rest resulted in this kind of negative impact for working people in communities across this country.
I think this government is letting Canadians down. It professes to support jobs and growth, but it's not protecting jobs, and it is undermining the prosperity of many communities that rely on these good-quality jobs.
I could go on at length, Mr. Chair, and I know I'm testing your patience, but I do feel very passionately about this and I just wanted to make those points.
Thank you.