I'll take the baton. My name is Huzaifa Saeed, and I'm from the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce. Through MPs Duvall and Bratina, we are quite ably represented on this committee, and you'll be hearing from Stelco later today, and ArcelorMittal Dofasco this week, two of our largest producers.
We also wanted to come to Ottawa to talk about the impact steel has within the local economy and the pure employment provided by steel producers, both the ones mentioned as well as a large number of small and medium businesses we represent here, which don't have the capacity or the ability to conduct government relations or actively engage with the government. There are hundreds and thousands of people employed.
Steel, as a backbone to our economy, has also created the ability for us to be active in the auto sector, the aerospace sector, railcar manufacturing, and construction. The list goes on. Canada's manufacturing is fully wedded to, and funded and anchored by, the steel producers. Without them, we would be in a very different scenario. We see McMaster University and Mohawk College working very closely with steel producers, which then bring in the after-market manufacturers that are working on different projects. We have tripartite projects producing some world-class products that many countries aren't able to compete with. They're exporting into the United States and despite Buy America policies, they're still able to compete at a high level because they're innovating and they're resilient, and that's what defines Hamilton.
We really wanted to invite members of the committee to come into town. I'm sure our MPs will take you around and show you some of the very high-tech things we're doing, but at the same time, I think the scale and capital required isn't really there yet. Steel has not been known as a marquee industry in the last half-decade, in the last decade. The baton has switched over to the auto sector, and in the Kitchener-Waterloo Toronto area the tech sector. We're just here to say steel is still there. It's in our backyard, it's employing hundreds and thousands of workers, and when there is a downturn we see it with our own eyes. We see the impact and the decline that Hamilton experienced in the last few decades just from the neglect.