In September 2002.
Until then, for those workers who are affected, for those people who have spent their life working at the plant, for the economy of the region and of the whole of Quebec, it is important that action be taken.
The first move should come from the federal government. It should say, “Yes, we have people dealing with this issue. Yes, they will be able to travel. Yes, they will ask the right questions to GM executives, when they meet with them at their headquarters”.
Why would the Prime Minister and the ministers responsible not act and go to meet with GM's senior management? If they sent Team Canada missions to China to discover new markets, why would they not do similar things here, in Quebec, in Canada and in the United States, to maintain markets that we have already developed, to save a plant where workers have all the skills required to do the job?
My concern is that this plant is somewhat a bridgehead of the auto industry in Quebec. Here is a very concrete example. In my riding, which is quite far from Laurentides, there is a company called AMT that manufactures auto parts for different manufacturers. If we lose the main manufacturer in Quebec, this will reduce circulation channels and access opportunities to those markets. In order to have access to markets, it is very important to be able to use all the necessary networks. We are very concerned. How will we find solutions? We do not really know.
I think that pleas have also been made by concerned unions. Allow me to quote, among others, Mr. Desnoyers who said: “The Prime Minister of Canada has not lifted a finger about this issue. It is time that he dealt with it personally. He will hear from us often”. This was a release from the FTQ dated January 25 2002.
This means that this plea has not yet been heard by the Prime Minister. Will this government not take position to show that it wants the plant to remain open, people to have jobs in that plant, and look at possible solutions?
The government has taken no initiative. Its seems that the neoliberalism that is its trademark since 1994 finds its roots in a issue such as this. They decided to leave it to the marketplace rule. Even if the government gave a loan to General Motors and even if the state has contributed significantly in several ways to support the company, today this multinational has decided to close its plant in Quebec and the government does nothing about it. We will have to live with a situation that will bring about a loss of jobs, expertise and a whole distribution and manufacturing network. It is a great shame.
The union has shown a lot of maturity in this matter. They avoided taking drastic measures that would have had a very negative impact on the company. If the federal government does not take the necessary measures, people will get desperate. It is almost too much to tolerate.
People are angry because of the federal government's lack of action and the lack of initiatives. There are no plans to develop hypotheses, to find solutions and alternatives. We see no such thing at this time and it is linked to the Quebec economy as a whole.
Tomorrow's car will be dependent on aluminum. It will be made out of new metals that are not in use today, but that are available in Quebec. They will be part of tomorrow's car. If we do not have that type of plant to develop these new products and to put our resources to that use, we will lose a great advantage and the federal government will have missed the boat. It will have shirked its responsibilities. It will have accumulated surpluses but, at the same time, it will have contributed to the death of a business in a region where it has considerable economic impact.
We are now facing that reality. I hope today's Bloc Quebecois opposition day will produce some results and bring the federal government to some kind of action in order that we can revive that plant. We must hope that in one, two or three years the situation will be back to normal and people will be proud to continue to work there. As all other members of the Bloc Quebecois, I ask the cooperation of the House so that we can get the government to take measures in that regard.
I will now let the member for Rosemont--Petite-Patrie, who is sharing the time I have after the question and comment period following my speech, have the floor.