Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise tonight particularly since we are questioning the government on two matters in adjournment proceedings pertaining to the fact that the policy for the manufacturing industry, whether the automobile industry or any other sector, is woefully inadequate.
Let us remember that, on March 28, the Bloc Québécois pointed out to the government for the umpteenth time that significant numbers of businesses were closing their doors. Mr. Ken Georgetti, President of the Canadian Labour Congress had this to say about the statements by the Minister of the Environment: “I am astounded to hear the Minister of the Environment describing the hypothetical loss of 250,000 good-paying jobs in the manufacturing, forestry and processing sectors as a looming crisis. Because three weeks ago, the same number of jobs lost did not warrant any government concern”.
While the Minister of the Environment pronounces his apocalyptic forecast, in reality the apocalypse has already arrived, in the disappearance of manufacturing jobs across Canada.
There was a report by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology on this subject but the government, typically, decided to retain only certain parts of the report. There are provisions for accelerated depreciation. That is interesting. However, when we compare them to what is available for the tar sands, they do not provide the same kind of benefits. We should also examine credits for businesses that do not make large profits—