Thank you for your question.
The aerospace manufacturing industry is very important for Quebec. More than 43,000 people work in it. However, we've lost approximately 4,400 jobs since the crisis started. We have total revenues of approximately $18 billion. It's the manufacturing industry, the supply chain, that provides the parts that are used to build aircraft. We in Quebec are fortunate to have major aircraft manufacturers such as Bombardier and Airbus and firms like Pratt & Whitney that build engines. They aren't airlines but rather suppliers that build aircraft that will eventually be sold to airlines.
The economic statement didn't include measures for the aerospace manufacturing industry. However, if you assist the airline industry, that will have a domino effect. If the airline industry is able to obtain financing, to put aircraft in the air, and if the Canadian government opens the borders, all that will stimulate the manufacturing industry. Right now, however, the airline industry is literally on its knees. Planes aren't flying; they're on the ground, and manufacturers are suffering the effects of that situation. We've received no support as manufacturers. We're going to lose SMEs, which will eventually go bankrupt. Businesses could well become targets of foreign creditors. In Quebec, we have businesses that are real gems and that could well be absorbed by foreign interests because they've been weakened.
We told the Quebec government the following, and it clearly understood what we said: the Canadian government must above all support the creation of a consolidation fund to protect the entire Canadian supply chain, particularly the SMEs, which are at greater risk because they aren't receiving any orders right now. From a business standpoint, they're operating at 40% or 50%. Defence businesses are doing much better because they're still supplying governments and meeting their defence and security needs.
In Quebec, 22% of businesses are connected to the defence sector, which isn't a lot. We're in the commercial field, we're completely on our knees right now, and we're getting no federal government assistance.