Madam Speaker, the member across the way and I have had some great conversations while travelling and I congratulate him on his re-election.
As to the part about the auto and aerospace sectors, when it comes to the auto sector, we are the mouse in bed with the elephants, so to speak, when it comes to our neighbours to the south. Of course, we all know that in the auto sector, 90% of all the cars that we produce in Canada go there. I think most people know that the Americans usually buy somewhere between 11 million and 11.5 million cars a year but that is down to about 10.5 million this year.
My point in bringing this up is that President-elect Obama has indicated that he will be coming out with a package. In discussions that the Prime Minister had in Washington just a few short weeks ago with the G20, it was decided by 20 well-respected world leaders to follow a plan. The Prime Minister is doing that at this point and I believe it would be very prudent to bring out a plan on the auto sector. The finance minister has indicated it is coming. It will come in due time and I believe it will coincide with the Americans.
A lot of people in my riding and across the country want something for the auto sector, not as a handout but as a leg up, and it needs to have strings attached to it.