Madam Speaker, that is a very good question.
There are many aspects to it. The events that have occurred recently are changing the way things are being done. We are in a state of war. Many people do not understand that. If they watched the president of the United States last night delivering his address, it was a wartime speech. We are not going to be immune from it. It is global. And the president said, “You are either with us or you are against us”.
That is my point of view. The timid response this week by the government in this whole area bothers me. The United States is going to change its policies. It is in a state of war. Business as usual is not going to carry on. Maybe the Americans had some sort of agreement where they would reciprocate on this issue, but until we get our house in order in terms of immigration and refugee policies, they will be difficult to deal with at the borders. It is as simple as that and I do not blame them.
There is something we have to understand. I do not know all the statistics on it, however, some 40% of our GDP or something in that region is based on trade with our American friends. This is very disturbing to me because if we lose a substantial portion of that, the government should realize what that equates to. It means unemployment, increased spending on social programs and real strains on employment programs.
I can see four or five ministers in the House right now and we could basically trim their departments right down to nothing in this situation in the interests of getting national, social and economic security in place and protecting it. However, the government is just doing things the same old way. It does not seem to think there is a war or a problem, but that it is someone else's problem. I know it is not someone else's problem. This is a world problem and we had better wake up.
I just thought of one example that would hit the nail on the head. We mentioned Honda and other ones. I was thinking of Magna International, one of the world's largest auto parts producers. I am quite sure many plants in Ontario produce parts that flow into the United States from this just in time inventory system. With the borders being clogged and jammed by American security interests, how long is that going to last? Assembly plants in the U.S. are not going to use our plants as suppliers if they cannot get the parts.
We have to bring this issue into perspective. It is more than just national security. It is social security and it is economic security. If we are not here trying to enhance all three of these things, I really wonder what we are doing in this place.