Mr. Speaker, I endorse a wide variety of measures that will make Canada a more attractive place for automobile companies to invest and to create jobs.
Without commenting specifically on any of the tax measures, I know that when I met with the big three representatives in February they raised a number of concerns about our tax system. They asked for a meeting among a number of ministers, including myself, the Minister of the Environment, the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Finance, so that we could have a discussion of all these elements with all the responsible departments at the table. We are working toward such a meeting.
They are concerned about conflicting regulations when it comes to safety or environment between Canada and the United States. They put on the table a number of very constructive suggestions about how we could remove some of the difficulties and irritants in the industry in Canada.
I have had the intention of creating, and I have discussed this with the interested parties, a committee that would represent the industry and all interested participants to develop a Canadian strategy to deal with our place in the world in terms of automobile manufacture, assembly and parts. Taxes are certainly a part of that picture.