Mr. Speaker, I have a petition that is about six or seven pages long, petitioning the government for a new automotive trade policy.
The petitioners say that whereas Canadian automotive assembly facilities are recognized by independent experts to demonstrate the best quality and productivity in the western hemisphere, the jobs of Canadian auto workers are being threatened as a result of expanding imports to the North American market and from Asia and Europe. North America imports over four million new vehicles per year from offshore jurisdictions and yet our exports to those same countries are strictly limited by the trade policies of those countries, such as Korea, which effectively protects their domestic markets.
The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to cancel negotiations for a free trade agreement with Korea, which would worsen the one-way flood of automotive products into our market, and develop a new automotive trade policy that would require Korea and other offshore markets to purchase equivalent volumes of finished vehicles and auto parts from North America as a condition of their continued access to our market.