Good afternoon and thank you all for your excellent presentations.
There is a basic principle to follow when we negotiate any free-trade agreement: we have to make sure that the results are as beneficial to Canada and Quebec as to the other country. When one negotiates a free-trade agreement, it is important to ensure mutual access to market.
We know that we export mainly agricultural products, minerals, metals, woodpulp. It is also true that there has been tremendous growth in those exporting sectors in the past few years.
However, you also export many manufactured products such as automobiles and auto parts, electrical equipment, computers, rubber and steel.
We have heard the representatives of an association of Canadian automobile manufacturers who have expressed serious concerns about the Canada-Korea agreement, as you all know and as Mr. Sinclair has indicated. On the other hand, Mrs Baron, of Global Business Development Canada, seems to be very much in favor of this agreement.
I would like to put some statistics to you. In 2006, Korea sold 1.7 billion dollars worth of automobile products to Canada whereas Canada only sold 11 million dollars worth of such products to Korea. The ratio is 153 to 1. People working in the automobile industry are extremely concerned about this agreement which, they fear, will cause damages to their sector. As you know, the automobile industry is in crisis at this time in Canada, just like the manufacturing sector.
Obviously, we should not negotiate an agreement aggravating this crisis. On the contrary, we have to find solutions to provide support to our industries. We have to conclude free-trade agreements that will benefit one country as much as the other but, at this time, we are not convinced that this will be the case and we would like to be reassured.
Some predictions have been made about the automobile industry. According to some estimates, Quebec might lose more than 8,000 jobs and Ontario, more than 17,000 jobs. There are figures about this, studies have been done.
Mrs. Baron, I would like to hear you about this. Do you have any studies? You may say that Toyota wants to export automobiles in Korea but do you have any statistics or studies that could reassure us, showing that the Canada-Korea agreement will lead to job creations in both countries and will be economically beneficial to both instead of creating economic problems as is presently the case with other agreements that we have concluded within the WTO framework, particularly relating to the manufacturing sector?
I would like to hear you on this.