Thank you.
I appreciate being here on behalf of workers, specifically auto workers. Mr. Chair, that's why I'm sitting here at this committee today, to speak for auto workers.
I feel strongly.... It has been said many times in the House that the government stands with auto workers, but as I said in the House, it feels a whole lot like the auto workers they're standing with are U.S. auto workers.
With the redacted contracts, we cannot possibly do our work effectively as parliamentarians. With all due respect to the member across, saying things like “Stellantis is bowing at the Trump administration”.... I think that perhaps they feel they have to, because the Prime Minister continues to bow to the Trump administration.
Auto workers in Oshawa, Brampton and Windsor, and across Ontario and across the country, feel like their jobs don't matter. They feel like they are on the chopping block in order to make some sort of other deal and that their jobs don't matter. I spoke this morning to my local Unifor president, and I can tell you that they feel like they're being left behind and aren't cared about whatsoever. The 3,000 people who are losing their jobs have mortgages to pay. They perhaps have kids in hockey. These aren't numbers. These are people. These are families.
I would very strongly ask that this committee vote in favour of the original motion, unamended, so that we can do our job as parliamentarians and so that Canadians are no longer paying for U.S. auto jobs, because Canadian taxpayers, if this happens, are essentially paying for U.S. auto jobs. Something has to be done to make sure that this doesn't happen and that those jobs stay here in Canada.