Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by expressing once again the great disappointment felt by the government following the decision of Hyundai Canada to delay the reopening of the Bromont plant indefinitely.
We are well aware that a definite closing of this facility would be an immense loss not only for the eastern townships but indeed for all of Quebec. I would like to state today, however, that we do not regard this as a dead issue and we are not going to sit back and resign ourselves to our fate.
We have therefore undertaken consultations with the Quebec government in the hope of finding a solution to this problem. I would like to add that during a recent visit to South Korea in early April the Minister for International Trade had an opportunity to speak to the chief executive officer of the Hyundai group, Mr. Chung, as well as the chairman of the board of Hyundai Motor, the parent company of Hyundai Canada, a gentleman by the name of Mr. Chong.
Both of these gentlemen, I stress, clearly indicated their firm intention of reopening the Bromont plant for the assembly of a competitive vehicle which could carve out a place for itself in the automotive market.
Hyundai's directors have mentioned that they intend to submit a business plan in the fall of 1994. We will examine this document carefully. We will go over it a second time with the Quebec government. The results of this examination will determine the type of support we will give to Hyundai to carry out its plans and reopen the Bromont plant.
Our government is committed to setting the economy of this country back on the road to prosperity. Our actions are an integral part of our desire to provide all Canadians with productive and well paid jobs like those in the automotive industry.