Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I appreciate the comments being made by all members here. I appreciate the desire and the responsibility of us as representatives to act in the best interests of our constituents and Canadians. I respect that, and I appreciate that it is exactly the intent here of members of the Conservative party particularly, and all sides, frankly. We have that duty. That's why I implore everyone to be cautious about divulging information wildly because of the competitive implications that may arise.
I want to reinforce some of the comments made today. David Cassidy, the chair of Unifor national skilled trades council and the president of Unifor Local 444 reinforced that this is the single most important investment in history in their community in Windsor.
He says:
....my message is pretty simple. This has turned into nothing but political hay, and the facts in the matter are, if we're not part of these investments on a global scale, then we're out of the game. Windsor used to be the automotive capital of Canada, and then we had some downturns in the economy, and everything seemed to stop.... We bargained for these new investments and we continue to see that the battery electric vehicle production facility has the means by which to move forward.
He further states:
Windsor is now the gateway to manufacturing in Canada. That's where manufacturing starts, and we have skilled trades. They're on the job, and let me remind people, these South Koreans, that deal was done back by the Conservatives when they allowed the free trade agreement with South Korea. They're the ones who start this. It's nothing abnormal.
He goes on to say:
I'm an electrician by trade. It's nothing abnormal when we build machinery here that we follow it, whether it's to Asia, whether it's to the United States, whether it's to Mexico, to make sure it's up and running.
Mr. Cassidy continues, and this was today:
There is proprietary stuff with this equipment that we've got to make sure is right and we get it right.
He adds this about the Conservatives:
[They] don't talk about the 600 jobs that we have that's going to be in engineering alone, and when we have at the research and development that they're putting them jobs in there.
He says:
They don't talk about the 2,500 members from my local—going to be my local when it's up and rolling—that are going to build these millions of batteries. And this has turned into nothing but political hay, and it's driving me crazy because we have more investments coming to Windsor.
He notes:
We have another company that's going to invest $3 billion with one company, and they have a decision if they're going to come to Windsor or they're going to go to Mexico. And when they see this going on here, it's ridiculous....if it was up to the Conservative government... We would not have this investment because they look at it as corporate welfare instead of a return on investment for all the workers that's going to be there.
He goes on to say:
I hope people listen to this. I hope people pay attention. You know, this is nothing new. l'm a skill trades. I talk to the skilled trades... The iron workers are installing lines in the modular plant overseen by the South Koreans, and that's starting right next week. So like I said, this is nothing new... I just hope that people really pay attention to this.
Mr. Cassidy continues:
It's not about taking jobs. This is about the equipment that they have built in South Korea at the battery plant. They're coming to help install this equipment, whether it's an electrician, whether it's a millwright. These are workers that are going to be there temporarily assisting. And they're not staying.
He goes on to say:
Today on the job site, there's about a thousand skilled trades putting the building together, and that's going to go to over 2,000 as we start installing the equipment into these facilities.
He reminds us that this facility is large:
I mean I think they quoted it's 20 Rogers Centres, the size of 20 Rogers Centres. Just imagine that! lt's a huge facility.
He states further, “We've got to get this battery plant going" and “We have to make sure all the theatrics and all the political stuff is gone.”
He adds, “Like they're asking for a national inquiry.” He's talking about this as a national inquiry. “On what?” he asks. “What is a national inquiry on?” he is asking.
He then states:
We're going to spend taxpayer dollars for the politicians to debate and discuss about whether we should open the books and show exactly what we're doing. If we do not participate in the global market with tax dollars then we're out of the game. We're out of the game in manufacturing and that's the truth.
I respect what members are saying, especially Mr. Masse with regard to training workers and what is engaged in these investments that will help us train the workers, and what investments are being made to secure those permanent Canadian jobs.
You say I can't go in good conscience, look at the contracts, determine what is being done and not be able then to discuss them if the disclosure suggests that work for Canadian workers wasn't being made. The fact is measures that are based in the contract require permanent Canadian jobs in the deal.
Furthermore, can you wear, I think it was mentioned, the information without being able to divulge it? The question is, or I guess the other question is, can you wear not being able to tell Canadians that this investment is for the benefit of our economic renewal and economic benefit and economic reinvestment in Windsor, which has suffered somewhat during the downturn. This enables that recovery to happen in a big way.
The jeopardy here is not having the jobs in the first place, right? Mr. Cassidy has made a reference to it as well. They're not taking away jobs. They're investing to create more investment and more jobs.
I would like to yield a portion of my time to my colleague, who I think had a meeting today with Mr. Cassidy. Is that okay?