It is absolutely the way of the future.
First of all, this pandemic showed us how ill-prepared we were as a nation—and are—to take care of ourselves. We outsourced all of our personal protective equipment. At the end of the day, we were left scrambling for the vital resources to take care of ourselves.
I'm always fascinated when I listen to the arguments of those who are saying that the manufacturing sector is dead in Canada. Frankly, as a result of the free trade deal that was signed 25 plus years ago, we've lost over half a million manufacturing jobs here in the province of Ontario. I'm fascinated that while everybody talks about the gig economy, the transformation and getting away from manufacturing, who was it that stepped up to the pump during the pandemic? It was the food industry. It was the auto parts industry. I can look at Bombardier in Thunder Bay. I can start to walk through the Hiram Walkers of the world. The manufacturing sector stepped up and transformed to provide some of the basics we need.
If we're going to have a strategy as we come out of the pandemic, it's clear that we're going to have to take a look at where the jobs really are and what it takes to have a stable economy. It's going to mean that the government is going to have to concentrate on a strong manufacturing sector. It's the only way to keep people employed. It's the only way, frankly, for us to stabilize our economy.