Well, I want to say thank you, Mr. Masse, because when we talk about workers, we're on the same line; I think you and I have been acknowledging that. What makes Canada competitive today is that we have the best workers in the world. You're right—in every speech I give and in every announcement, I always thank them, because at the end of the day, it starts with them. As you know, if you don't have the talent.... It's the same thing with the aluminum and the same thing with cars.
I remember the first meeting I had with the chairman of Honda in Tokyo two years ago. I think I had a piece of paper that said that the Alliston plant was the best on this planet. I said, “Trust our people; they're the best.” Then, obviously, two years later, he said, “I heard you being patient. That was patience well invested.”
To your point, I think we started with incentives for electric cars. I just want to put in perspective that when I became Minister of Industry, you will recall that one of the first briefings I received was, basically, about preparing for the end of the auto sector in Canada and how we might follow suit with the U.K. and Australia. I must say that thanks to what we did together as a nation, we turned that around. I was looking, and I think since 2020—I just saw the data—we have had $46 billion of investment.
You're right—you come from Windsor, and you've been fighting all your life for the workers. Do you remember when we used to be at the table and we were hoping to get something? Now, as you know, there is Volkswagen, with the first gigafactory outside of Germany. There's the largest investment in Honda's history. There are Ford, GM and Stellantis.
To your point, we started with incentives for the cars, and I'm happy to study those. If the committee wants to study other measures, we can do that. The other thing we're doing is trying to reduce the cost of the batteries, because at the end of the day batteries represent about 40% of the cost of an electric vehicle. By regrouping the supply chain in Canada, we're hoping to be able to decrease the cost and make greener batteries, so that the cars will be more affordable, because affordability is an issue.