Mr. Speaker, the loss of manufacturing jobs in Canada is becoming more acute by the day.
It was announced two days ago that Canadian Blue Bird's manufacturing facility, a mainstay in my riding of Brant for almost 50 years, will be closing very soon. In my riding alone, 1,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the auto sector since 2005.
At Blue Bird, 130 people will lose their jobs when the plant is relocated to the United States. The 130 employees are dedicated and the facility has won several workplace health and safety awards in their field.
To ignore the current manufacturing crisis is to ignore the livelihoods of thousands of Canadians. Instead of idly watching the flow of jobs leaving Canada, the government must step up to the plate and protect workers in the manufacturing sector.