Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I believe this is the last meeting we have on the electric vehicle study, so I want to just reflect briefly, before I go to my questions, on the importance of this study and what we've learned today and other days, particularly concerning the deeply distressing potential impact of importing Chinese electric vehicles from the PRC and the possible impact on our national security.
We heard loud and clear today and on other days of this study how very real that concern is and how very real that threat may be, yet I have been surprised that there have been very few questions, if any, by the Liberal Party about pursuing more information about the potential security impacts of this policy. It has been quite disappointing to us personally to see the lack of interest or concern that it poses.
Today, of course, we saw Mr. Bains look to discredit Mr. Hinton and his testimony. Mr. Hinton is a foremost leader in Canada on intellectual property, so Mr. Hinton, I have a few questions for you, and I would like to allow you some opportunity to respond to some of the comments directed towards you when you were not permitted an opportunity to address them.
I think you've outlined this very clearly, but there is clearly a giant deficit, which we have heard in this committee and during other studies, in Canada's ability to maintain intellectual property, and that has had a long-term impact on our productivity, which has been stagnant after 10 years of Liberal government. We are one of the worst countries in the OECD for intellectual property leakage. Your comments really underline that impact.
I also agree with your concern that Canada has, not just in automotive but elsewhere, become a branch plant economy. Rather than setting up a Canadian car manufacturer in another country, we consistently have others coming here. While we deeply value and need jobs from foreign auto companies—we want them to stay; we want them to grow—I very much take your point that it's a disappointing outcome that we do not have a Canadian auto manufacturer that can export to the world. I'd just like to give the floor to you to further express this.
You provided a quote that I found concerning and interesting: that only “7% of a car's value goes to labour”, which seems counterintuitive. We need these jobs, we want these jobs and we value them from foreign auto companies, but your point has been that a lot of the wealth for countries that have ownership over these companies is in the IP.
I'll give the floor over to you to use how you wish, but if you can, just elaborate on that.