Certainly part of our current weakness over the last few months is related to the slowdown in the U.S. economy--the uncertainty surrounding the financial problems there with sub-prime mortgages, and so on. That was relevant in the case you mentioned of the Oshawa pickup truck facility. But the problem we're facing in manufacturing goes back much further than that.
Our manufacturing employment has been falling continuously for over five years, and for periods in that time the U.S. economy was very strong. The main problem with our exports to the U.S. is not this short-term downturn in the U.S. economy. The main problem we face is that our automotive exports to the U.S. are being squeezed out by offshore imports from Japan, Korea, and other offshore producers. That has been by far the more important factor behind our shrinking exports to the U.S. market, and the dollar of course only compounds the problem.