Mr. Chair, thank you so much.
My name is Veso Sobot. I'm a director with the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Canada. We're based in Scarborough, Ontario. We have about 300 members, all Canadian companies, all looking to create valuable products and sell them in Canada and around the world.
Today I would like to offer some suggestions from the coalition on self-sufficiency in supply chains.
I'm going to pick it up where Bob Masterson left it. We're going to talk about the plastics sector a little bit. As Bob said, the benefits of plastic have never been as clear as they are today. The COVID epidemic has clearly shown Canada's strategic vulnerability and dependance on these products. We don't make them in this country as much as we used to, and we need to make them here. Plastics are made from natural gas. We have a strategic raw material advantage in this sector. Canada's plentiful natural gas supply gives us a cost advantage over countries like China, which derives its plastics from coal.
China has other advantages, however. China has a fixed currency, and Canada has a floating currency—advantage China. Manufacturers in Canada are subjected to class action law suits, and Chinese manufacturers are not—advantage China. Canadian manufacturers are subjected to strict environmental rules, and Chinese manufacturers are not—advantage China. Canadian manufacturers have to pay a carbon tax, and the Chinese do not—advantage China.
It's our contention that it's time for the federal government to advantage Canada. Here are recommendations for doing so.
Incentivize Canadians to repatriate manufacturing back to Canada, as they're doing in Japan and the United States. This will alleviate a dependancy on unfriendly foreign suppliers and strengthen our national security.
Create an expedited approvals process for Canadian companies, one that takes days, not months, and allow Canadian companies to get expedited approvals. The government of Canada appealed to manufacturers to retool and produce PPE here. Many of our members have done just that, only to find that the approvals process is the bottleneck. A member company has been waiting a month for approval from Health Canada for something as simple as a face shield, while other companies from Wuhan have their approvals. We urge the government to streamline and fast-track the process for Canadian companies.
Environment and Climate Change Canada is working to deem plastic toxic right now. As Bob mentioned, labelling plastic as toxic under CEPA would result in a less safe environment for workers and consumers, and thousands of job losses across Canada, without any benefit. Our members are telling us that they're finding it harder to get private equity for their investments because the government is going down this route. The federal government must drop this misguided initiative immediately.
We urge the government to stop investing in Chinese infrastructure, and instead take that money and invest it in Canadian infrastructure. Investing in Canadian infrastructure that lasts 50 to 100 years at these low interest rates means that future generations will receive that benefit, making it the best return on investment of all stimulus spending options. Let municipal needs and the free market supply the solutions necessary to create world-class infrastructure in Canada. Let's cut off giving money to China for its infrastructure.
I'd like to pass it on to my colleague, David Sword, to add a couple more recommendations.