Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you very much, Minister, for appearing here today on this very important study that we have undertaken. I moved this, with the support of all the committee, to go hand in glove with your efforts.
After being sworn in, you headed down to Washington and began that work in earnest. We know that Canada and the U.S have fostered the largest automotive manufacturing cluster in North America, centred around the Great Lakes region, which the Soo is part of. Ontario exports about $10 billion in auto parts each year to Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio alone.
There is clearly a need for that reciprocal relationship to continue, especially when we have all these shared, common goals of having more electric vehicles on the road and ensuring that our citizens can actually afford them. We all support incentives towards that goal, but why discriminate against Canada's industry when we have been making autos together for 100 years? A lot of people are asking that.
What is the American response that you have gotten, right from the beginning, on their attack on our deeply integrated supply chains and historical partnerships, especially when we know that this will be a counterproductive approach that will in fact disrupt the production even more and reduce their accessibility for the middle class?