I'll start.
I mentioned a couple of things, including the AIF. We're very grateful for the fact that the fund has been extended, but now it's a question of how we can improve it from a tax treatment perspective. We read things in the paper that maybe the government's considering going to a grant structure. That would be a great thing, although I'm not sure I've seen any official announcement of that yet. There are also SR and ED credits. We're talking about what qualifies and what doesn't qualify. In terms of the shop or on the floor, what makes a difference there can help as well.
These are all things, but the key is in how we adjust it and close the gap between ourselves and our competing jurisdictions. Right now we take an envelope approach—the federal government and Ontario, for instance. That envelope needs to be expanded. We shouldn't be talking about 20%. We should be maybe talking about 50% plus, as I mentioned.
These are the things that can help, but they will also help because the assembly plants are kind of the nucleus. That's what attracts the suppliers, the supply chain that creates the concentric circles around us. Now we're getting into the fact that it also supports engineering facilities. It's not likely you'd have an engineering facility if you didn't have assembly here. I can say that pretty confidently. The fact that we do means that we do have, certainly in my member companies, research and engineering facilities here. Supporting them and expanding these programs so that they apply to some of the activities in those facilities as well is something that will not only help the auto industry but also help us become even more diverse and be able to promote and carry forward the innovation agenda more effectively and more broadly.
I think that is what's key when we go forward. We are challenged right now in trying to find talent in the areas I mentioned—lightweight materials, sensors, artificial intelligence, communications. We need engineers in those areas, and we need them now.
Those are the things that I think could be very helpful to us.