Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My heart goes out to the families and the workers of Oshawa. General Motors closed in my community after a hundred years of operations, to the exact year. Since 2002, I've been advocating in the House of Commons for a Canadian national auto policy, similar to the calls of the CAW, as well as other economists who have called for this.
Other nation states actually have a specific auto policy. In fact, a number of those states have now usurped Canada's position as the number two auto manufacturer and assembler to move us now to 10th in that model. We've shed tens of thousands of jobs in that tenure. In fact, we have slid so significantly that it has even affected our North American supply chain. That has been unfortunate, because one auto job equates to seven other jobs in the economy. This is the pain and suffering the member for Oshawa sees. My heart goes out to him and his community, because it's not just those who go to the plant every single day.
It's important to note that in a national auto strategy that we laid out with the late Jack Layton back in 2003—even David Suzuki was part of it—in terms of a green auto strategy, specific elements were taken from many other jurisdictions because of the transition. You have workers in Oshawa and other places who have quite literally been the best. They've been the best, as shown through the powertrain awards they've received for their work, and it hasn't been enough. That's one of the problems we're faced with in this industry.
The motion we have in front of us is reasonable in four meetings. In fact, if it could be more comprehensive, that's certainly something I would support. But it's important to note, Mr. Chair, that other countries, again, are still going forward with their policies.
Germany has a policy. South Korea has a policy. The United States has a series of trade barriers, and the most recent USMCA has a series of barriers related to investment. They actually cap our investment and they also create new taxes, which are part of the forthcoming agreement. That would be appropriate, because we are competing. I will note, as the member has noted, that the Ray Tanguay report was tabled in 2017—this is the auto czar. Unfortunately, we haven't seen action on that particular file yet. It's almost a year in the making. It will be a year in the making a month from now.
Time is of the essence. I can remember this debate going back as far as when I found the Liberal auto policy in a washroom here in the House of Commons. It's a true story. This is well articulated in the chamber. We called for one. We almost got one at one point. At that time, Minister Cannon for Paul Martin was ready to table a policy, but when he switched and crossed over to the Conservatives, he never followed through on that.
We still need to have some resolution to having an overall plan. This is the first step to having it. We have heard from the Prime Minister that there would be some interest in doing so. I would encourage us to do the four meetings that are necessary. I would also be prepared to meet additionally to that. I don't think this has to interrupt any of our committee business whatsoever. I would hope that the movers of the motion would accept that.
I'll conclude, so that we can get to our guests, but I think it's important to note that we have an opportunity to do this. We have the time available in our schedule if necessary. I would encourage all members to do so.
Thank you for your time.