Mr. Speaker, today is a day of mourning for workers in the automobile industry and for NDP members. The auto pact agreement, which was signed 36 years ago, ends today. This agreement helped Canada become a major player in auto making around the world.
The auto pact was a model of good trade policy. Unlike free trade, the auto pact made access to our Canadian market conditional on a commitment to Canadian jobs and communities. It has been an engine of prosperity for the province of Ontario and Canada as a whole.
Now that the auto pact has been killed by the WTO, the Liberal government must rethink its failed free trade policy and come up with a new policy to stimulate investment and jobs in the Canadian auto industry.