Madam Speaker, I want to put a question to the member for Kootenay East. It has to do with the issue of Canadian content.
The greatest dollar value of exports, not just in terms of dollar value but number of jobs created in the country today in the manufacturing sector, is the automotive industry. The automotive sector represents the greatest number of jobs and exports. The foundation that has generated that reality today started when the auto pact was negotiated with the United States of America.
In that auto pact, percentages of Canadian content were negotiated. As the automotive industry was developed, the taxpayers invested in the foundation stages hundreds of millions of dollars in new equipment, in research and in the capacity to manufacture a world class, automotive, technology manufacturing capability.
When we have such a model of proven success in job creation in a sector that is bringing literally billions of dollars to the treasury right now when it is looked at in its totality, why should we not do a careful analysis to see if we could not create the same opportunity in the aerospace sector?
I realize that the free trade agreement states that Canadian content can be dictated no longer. I opposed the free trade agreement and that was one of the reasons why I opposed it. I felt that it took a piece of our industrial policy making capability away from us. However, why would we not take a look at the aerospace industry in the same light as the automotive industry?