Mr. Speaker, Canadians across the country have watched with considerable interest developments with regard to the Canadian dollar. Few watched with more attention than the thousands of Canadians who work in our manufacturing and forestry sectors.
Simply put, Canadian manufacturing and forestry sectors are in crisis and in desperate need of assistance from the federal government. Just last week, the Premier of Quebec speaking on the impact of the dollar and the loss of manufacturing jobs responded by saying, “I think it's urgent”.
The situation in Canada's manufacturing and forestry sectors is indeed urgent. The Quebec Premier also stated, “We need to meet the Canadian Prime Minister as soon as possible”.
What was the Prime Minister's response? According to his office, he would agree to meet, but not until the end of this year or early into 2008. This is not the way to respond to an urgent crisis.
This country has lost upwards of 175,000 manufacturing jobs in the past three years. The high dollar has clearly compounded this reality.
We have only to look to the recent announcement by the Chrysler Corporation that it would be cutting 1,100 jobs at the Brampton, Ontario, plant as evidence that this situation is only getting worse.
In fact, Gerry Fedchun of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association stated quite clearly this reality when he said recently, “It just gets worse and worse”.
As many observers continue to point out, the loss of manufacturing jobs is a problem that is compounded throughout our economy. There are many ancillary jobs that depend on manufacturing jobs in communities across this country.
Can members imagine the impact upon the economy of the city of Brampton, Ontario, when 1,100 good-paying jobs are lost in that city? Think of the loss of buying power that comes with that kind of job loss in a community like Brampton.
I recently met with the representatives of the Canadian Auto Works who work at the Downsview plant of Bombardier Aerospace. They came to meet with me to convey the deep concerns of manufacturing workers in this country. In fact, the Canadian Auto Workers are promoting a campaign across the country called, “Manufacturing Matters”. They are right. Manufacturing does matter.
These are good jobs that are being lost and the government simply ignores the pleas of so many Canadians who are losing their means to support their families and their communities in this country. The numbers speak for themselves. The Canadian trade deficit in manufactured goods is $30 billion. That is $30 billion in the manufacturing sector alone. This is simply unacceptable and clearly requires action on the part of the government.
Similarly, this problem is only going to get worse if action is not taken soon. I would encourage the government to listen to the experts.
For example, Mr. Ted Carmichael, chief economist for J.P. Morgan Securities Canada, has stated that if the dollar remains at its current levels, we could easily see the loss of another 150,000 manufacturing jobs.
The motion before this House also deals with the loss of jobs in the forestry sector. From the west coast of Canada to the east, our forest industry is hurting a great deal. Bruce McIntyre, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, states, “The dollar is obviously kicking the teeth out of the forestry industry right now”. He further states, “It's pretty desperate times out there”.
It has been noted by the Quebec Federation of Labour that up to 10,000 jobs have already been lost in the forestry sector in the province of Quebec. Also in Quebec, we note that for every one cent increase in the value of the dollar there is a loss of $150 million annually in the forestry sector.
Whether in the forestry sector or the manufacturing sector, Canadians are losing their jobs and the government has simply failed to address the crisis in these important sectors of our economy.
We must also look to the future. There are more problems for manufacturing on the horizon that will only make the situation worse if we do not take appropriate action.
India for example is increasing its manufacturing sector at a very rapid pace. It is estimated that up to 71 million new entrants will arrive into the job pools in that nation in the year 2010. Keep in mind that wages are at least 30% to 40% less in India than in traditional western economies.
It is clear that the reality is also a major challenge for Canada's manufacturing sector. Similarly there has been much talk about the potential free trade agreement with the nation of South Korea. There are estimates that such an agreement would cost a minimum of 33,000 more jobs in the manufacturing sector. The provinces of Quebec and Ontario, between them, stand to potentially lose over 25,000 jobs.
The Government of Canada has an obligation to protect its workers. All we hear from the Prime Minister are remarks like the one made the other day, “We understand the dollar is causing some challenges”. The Prime Minister refers to “some challenges”. That is not good enough.
What we need is action. We need an advocacy to protect Canadian jobs. We need action with regard to the impact of the higher Canadian dollar. We need to invest in our workers and ensure they remain competitive through skills training programs. We need to insist that we have access to the marketplace in an equitable manner and not to keep our doors open while other markets remain closed to Canadian jobs. We need to invest in our infrastructure to help our manufacturing sector. We need a fair lumber deal and we need real support for the forestry sector. We need to ensure that procurement of goods by the government puts Canadian manufacturers first. Simply, we need to protect Canadian workers.
In short, we need leadership. It is simply unacceptable that the government continues with platitudes while Canadian jobs are being lost. It is simply unacceptable that when premiers across the country call upon the Prime Minister to convene a first ministers conference on this issue, they are told that it might happen before the year's end or even some time in the new year. The issues are simply too important for them to wait that long. When the premiers use words like “urgent” and “concern”, it is time to start listening. When the economists talk about sectors of our economy getting their teeth kicked out, it is time to start listening.
The Leader of the Opposition demanded the leadership about which I speak. Just last Friday the opposition leader announced the Liberal plan for effectively fighting poverty in the country. The 30:50 plan will go along way toward dealing with poverty.
I call upon the government to demonstrate that kind of leadership and that it take immediate, effective action to support our manufacturing and forestry industries. The time is now.