Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Windsor--St. Clair for a very knowledgeable speech. I know he lives with the reality of the downturn in the auto industry representing the area of Windsor.
He raised some very specific points, steps the government could take if it truly valued the auto industry as much as it claims. One of the things the hon. member mentioned had a dollar value or cost factor to it. He talked about the right to work states, the anti-union and non-union states in the deep south of the U.S. where a state like Alabama is offering a $400 million subsidy for a $500 million plant and wonders if we can play that kind of a game.
Would the hon. member agree that at least some intervention, as a gesture of how serious this downturn is, could come from the enormous surplus that the government has built up in the EI fund? I do not think there is a direct connection but I would point out that the EI fund is showing a surplus of $750 million per month. Every month workers' money and business money goes into that surplus fund. In a context like that would the hon. member agree that $400 million to create all those jobs may not be such a bad bargain?