Industry Committee on June 14th, 2016

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

This is a bit of a funny ask, but I'm going to do it anyway.

You can now each submit to the clerk anything additional you'd like to submit, and it would be very interesting if you could find common ground among all three of you. You actually represent three different aspects of this challenge: basically a technology start-up in the automotive area; a very large, successful company established in that; and the workers who work in there. If the three of you were to come back with three things...because we don't need a book here.

It's not my right to tell you. You can each independently submit something to us. But if something came from all three of you, very clean and clear, telling us the things you're looking for, it would at least put weight behind our saying that we have everybody behind it—technology, large companies, and labour.

I have another minute here, so I'll ask about productivity. Are there issues of productivity?

I'll start with you, Mr. Kroll.

[Jerry Kroll]

[Technical difficulty-—Editor] productivity for ourselves, being able to start with the new vehicles and engineer them so that the productivity is optimized per hour and per employee. That's engineered into today's vehicles. We look at it as being a new product going forth.

There's no problem with the Canadian workforce we have, or no benefit to exporting those jobs out of the country. I have no problem in keeping the product here. The maple leaf does ship well, so a Canadian-built car would be phenomenal.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

My struggle with this is that I know the numbers about everything. I understand the U.S. is getting $10 billion, Mexico $7 billion, and us $1 billion. Why is this if it's not productivity or labour costs? What else is pulling them to specifically Mexico?

Ms. Craig.

[Dianne Craig]

Well, from a productivity standpoint, we are not at a competitive disadvantage. We're very, very competitive, and in some cases more competitive than plants outside of Canada.

The labour cost is difficult in terms of Mexico versus Canada. On the labour cost, we've closed the gap between the U.S. and Canada, so we can overcome that gap. That really has not become an issue. We have plenty—as I said, $10 billion in 2014—invested in the U.S. So there's certainly lots of opportunity, even competing with the U.S.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

You have 10 seconds, Mr. Dias.

[Jerry Dias]

General Motors: number one in CAMI, number two in Oshawa, North America quality and productivity.

How was that? That was only eight seconds.

Can I elaborate?

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Dianne Craig]

Ford's good too.

[Jerry Dias]

I know. Well, you're covering it; I have to talk about the rest of them.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

And now you go and ruin it all.

[Jerry Dias]

I didn't want to leave here on a—

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Mr. Masse, you have two minutes.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Just on a point of order, I hope that in the future, if we have interruptions to guests, I don't become the victim of losing time for that. It should be equitably shared across the table. I'll move on from that.

With regard to the industry, and looking at the history of it, it was made by strategic visions and decisions, and it was actually created by tariff and trade barriers that Canada imposed to actually get branch plants from the United States to be incubated in Canada. We find ourselves today without that bold strategy that created the industry. The Auto Pact was one of the most successful, if not the most successful, trade moments in Canadian history, because we still stand on that footprint which has now diminished. Ironically that was killed through NAFTA through a challenge by Japan, which now wants preferential status for importation and development, when we can't even actually ship into Japan because of non-tariff barriers. It's just amazing.

Ms. Craig very quickly, what does it do for you at the table advocating for Canadian investment when we know, for example, even on this, that despite a trade agreement with the United States and Mexico, they are actually negotiating a 25-year advantage in this trade agreement, when we have five years, and Malaysia got 12 years, for crying out loud? How do we actually negotiate at the table knowing the advantages—not only in money, dollars, but in trade advantages—all go to our neighbours?

[Dianne Craig]

Well, Mr. Masse, thank you for the comment.

The challenge for me especially is that it sent a message to our global Ford Motor Company that the auto sector in Canada didn't matter when the Canadian negotiators negotiated a five-year phase-out on the tariff, when they know what happened in the U.S. We were at the table, and they listened to our feedback. We told them how important the sector was, how important the tariff was to be competitive with the U.S., and you know what the end result was. I think it was just one more message that was sent to my company that Canada isn't serious about protecting manufacturing.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

All right, here's where we stand.

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Mr. Chair, I just want to tell the Ford people that I own a Ford Escape.

[An hon member]

I already got one.

[An hon. member]

And there's one more.

[Dianne Craig]

Oh, thank you.

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

And thank you for your F-350.

[A voice]

I have a small economy Focus.

[A voice]

Me too.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Okay, now that we've all shared what kind of vehicles we have, we actually will have time for one question of two minutes, two minutes, and you will get another two minutes. Who's going to do it on this side?

Mr. Arseneault, do you want to speak?

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

I would like to take the floor for two minutes, please.