Again let me thank you for the work we did together on the unanimous consent motion. Thank you for taking such a leading role there.
I agree with you that it is very important for our steel and aluminum workers to know that they have the full support not only of parliamentarians, which I know they have, but also of the Government of Canada.
I, in consultation with my colleagues Navdeep Bains and Bill Morneau, am currently working on ways to support those workers and those industries. I would like to say to this committee and to all Canadians that we absolutely believe those workers, those industries, need our support. I want to point out that the imposition of the retaliatory tariffs is one part of that support. When Canadian workers and Canadian companies now face tariffs selling their steel and aluminum to the United States, it is not fair that their U.S. competitors would not face parallel tariffs selling it to Canada. They will.
The actions that we're taking at the WTO and NAFTA are an important part of the defence. I agree that we need to work on ways to directly support workers and industry, and that work is under way. I would be very interested in ideas you have on the best way to do that.