Thank you for the opportunity, and especially on short notice.
One of the things that is a myth and I think is important for this committee to understand.... We understand it's a global market and there is competitiveness within the industries, but when it comes to change, we understand that there's a need for change.
In the packets I gave out earlier I give a very brief history, going back to 1981, coming out of the 1979-80 recession. Where did Ford Motor Company come to? They came back to Windsor, because of the highly skilled, dedicated workforce within Windsor, Essex County, and Chatham-Kent.
We ended up putting new buildings into place under modern operating agreements with flexible work rules. We did that through the early eighties and into the nineties. Again we were able to achieve the Windsor engine plant and annex, which produces the Triton engine for the F-150, the top-selling pickup truck in North America.
Then just recently we were able to put together an agreement with one of our companies. We have two Nemak plants that are joint ventures. We were able to secure in that facility a General Motors block, which was highly unique, because those facilities were all Ford and still are Ford-owned, and the employees are paid by Ford.
If we look back at the history, as Mr. Bernard mentioned, just a short three years ago we had 6,200 people working at Ford in Windsor. We are presently at 3,800. By this time next year we will have lost another 2,200 people.
The spin-off effect within this community is approximately one in seven. The business community looks and sees what's happening within the community. It's so far-reaching that in this community right now there are somewhere in the neighbourhood of eight or nine restaurants for sale. It is not only the auto and auto parts sector; it's all the businesses within this community.
I think it is really important, and the one thing we did that's shown in the packets is hold a town hall meeting to try to bring the entire community together, to take partisan politics out of it and to really talk about what this community and this region are going to look like a couple of years down the road.
As Mr. Persichilli said, it is more than just a crisis. I think Canada is at war when it comes to the auto industry, and we're losing. We need to ensure that we have all levels of government looking after their constituents in Canada.