Mr. Speaker, my colleagues provided a brilliant account this morning of the importance of the aerospace industry to Quebec and the spinoffs we should be getting. They mentioned 55% to 60%. I am going to show the hon. member who just asked the question that it really is between 55% and 60%.
We said that the aerospace industry plays a major role in Quebec’s economy. That is true as well of the South Shore, where my riding of Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert is located. I would even say that the aerospace industry is without a doubt one of the strongest sectors in the South Shore’s economy. Longueuil Economic Development has done an excellent study of this, and I would like to share a bit of it with the House.
The pre-existing infrastructure in the South Shore, the concentration of world class companies and the tax incentives for research and development help attract new investors to the South Shore every year. Montreal’s South Shore is also an export powerhouse.
Among the lead aerospace companies, we have Pratt & Whitney Canada, Héroux-Devtech and the Canadian Space Agency in Saint-Hubert. Unfortunately, this federal government has been reducing its contribution to the space agency’s research year after year, in contrast to the other G-8 countries. There is also the Lemex Group. These companies all help to make the aerospace industry a pacesetter in greater Montreal.
The Montreal area is the only place in the world where, within a radius of 30 km or 19 miles, the main components of an airplane are all available. The Montreal area is the second largest aerospace centre in the world, after Seattle but ahead of Toulouse. It has a matchless concentration of companies that are leaders in their field—I already mentioned Pratt & Whitney Canada, Bombardier Aeronautics, the Space Agency, Bell Helicopter—and are supported by 10 research centres. The aerospace industry in greater Montreal employs 37,000 people, numbers more than 240 companies, generates more than $10 billion in annual revenues, and accounts for between 55% and 60% of the Canadian market. One job in six in the Montreal area is connected to the aerospace industry.
In six years, this sector’s sales have increased by more than 80%. More than 80% of its production is exported and it invests more than $700 million annually in research and development in Quebec.
In my riding of Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, which is almost in the middle of the South Shore, many aerospace companies are to be found. There are about ten subcontractors as well as major companies. My riding even includes the Saint-Hubert airport, which I will talk about later, the Canadian Space Agency, which I mentioned, as well as the École nationale d'aérotechnique, a very important college in the aerospace industry.
The following businesses are in my riding: Aéro Teknik, Amphenol Air LB North America, Avtech, Beel Technologies, Brechbuhl, Lemex, Marinvent Corporation, Netur Usinage and Tecnar Automation. These are extremely important businesses and subcontractors with a few hundred employees. Officially, these nine businesses have 175 employees in all, but we also know that many men and women in the South Shore work for large companies. Thousands work for Pratt & Whitney, for Héroux-Devtech and also at the Canadian Space Agency. They have quality jobs—the average salary being $60,000—and they expect to keep these jobs in the years to come. Just talk to Camille Larochelle, for example, from the aerospace workers union. He has a lot to say about this.
Not only are the South Shore, the greater Montreal area and the province of Quebec in need of spinoffs from the purchases this government is making and from the purchases of the C-17 from Boeing, they also have other needs regarding the airport. Not only is the government unable to manage the conditions of a $3.4 billion contract, it cannot meet quickly and easily a very simple request from the people in charge of development at the Saint-Hubert—Longueuil airport, the DASH-L group, who need additional money and important subsidies to repair and lengthen the airstrip. We know that this work, which would cost $70 million, would enable a large aerospace industry, Pratt & Whitney, to continue testing its engines in Saint-Hubert, just as it has done for the past 75 years.
Pratt & Whitney has delivered 55,000 engines to its clients in some 190 countries over the past 75 years.
We know that the competition from other countries is very strong and very keen. The large foreign companies are supported by their governments. It is not just a financial matter. This is the future of our industry, and especially the future of our workers.
The Bloc Québécois wants a real aerospace policy. Let us stop this piecemeal management, with a bit here and bit there, a little contract with Boeing for a few billion dollars with no conditions negotiated. It does not make any sense. No one here would pay billions of dollars for something without setting any conditions.
In the fall of 2004, Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney and Bell Helicopter expressed their intention to invest large amounts in research and development to launch some large-scale projects. In all three cases, the lack of a clear federal policy resulted in long and painful negotiations.
Since 2002, the Bloc has been asking the government to establish an aerospace policy that would provide the companies with reliable and predictable support thus enabling them to plan their development projects ahead. Faced with the federal lack of interest, the Bloc even submitted its own policy, which was very well received by the industry.
In the fall of 2005, exasperated by repeated pressure from the Bloc Québécois, the Liberal government presented a list of standards that it would take into account in the development of an eventual aerospace policy. It must also be said that we were on the eve of an election campaign. The policy never materialized and the Liberal government was not re-elected. Through sheer tenacity, the Bloc finally convinced the Liberals that such a policy was necessary after they denied it for years.
The Bloc will continue to push this file in order to get the Conservatives to bend. The Conservatives are doing Quebec a lot of damage with their denial of the reality of this vital sector for Quebec.
A real aerospace support policy would include the following: support for research and development, the restoration of a real technological partnership plan, financing of sales contracts, support and, finally, a policy on the procurement of military equipment.
With regard to support for research and development, the Government of Quebec has succeeded in creating an environment favourable to the development of the aerospace industry. In Quebec there are close to 40 training programs aimed at the aerospace industry—graduate degree programs—that provide the industry with quality employees.
Moreover, the government offers investment support and generous tax credits which reduce the cost of doing research and make Quebec attractive for high technology companies.
The federal government also offers tax incentives for research and development. Nonetheless, federal funding for research is clearly insufficient.
Federal support for research and development in the aerospace industry is vital because the industry in Quebec and Canada is competing with Boeing, Airbus and Embraer, which can all count on their respective governments for support.
In OECD countries, spending on research and development averages 2.3% of GDP. Among G-7 countries, the average is about 2.5% of GDP. In Canada, spending on research and development is stagnating at 2% of GDP. Canada is falling behind.
Quebec is doing well, spending considerably more on research and development than the average of industrialized countries, in spite of the paltry support it gets from Ottawa. Indeed, federal dollars account for only 15% of the funding for research done in Quebec, which is less than anywhere else in Canada. Quebec's successes are attributable to Quebec's efforts, despite the obstacles Ottawa is putting in its way.
In concluding, I will summarize in one sentence the policy proposed by the Bloc for the aerospace industry: the aerospace industry has to be for Quebec what the auto industry is for Ontario.