Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government is showing cold indifference to the thousands of Canadians who have lost their jobs in the manufacturing sector.
According to Statistics Canada, the decline in manufacturing jobs has been the sharpest since the recession of the early 1990s. The areas most affected have been Quebec and Ontario, which have seen 90% of the manufacturing job losses nationwide.
In recent years, the value of the Canadian dollar has risen sharply compared to the American dollar. This increase continues to have repercussions on the export market. Indeed, the price of goods produced in Canada is on the rise, which means that our products are becoming less competitive than those of other countries.
Particularly affected are the automotive, machine, textile and clothing industries. The forestry industry has also been seriously affected by the soaring loonie, in addition to being hurt by the softwood lumber agreement with the United States.
When the minority Conservative government tabled its most recent budget, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters said:
Manufacturing is at risk. We are seeing some of the most productive and competitive operations in the world close because of the dollar. There’s nothing natural about that. But, clearly we can’t rely on this budget to build a competitive advantage for Canada.
That is what the job creators in this sector, which is in crisis, are saying. And what are the Conservatives doing about it? They are abandoning workers.
Last January, we, the Liberals, called for a bill that could have been passed when the House resumed its work. Why? So that our manufacturing sector and affected workers could receive credits as soon as possible and so that the money could be allocated in a way that would really help the situation.
Workers also said that there was no point in having many single-industry cities set up assistance programs for retraining. Simply put, retraining does not solve the problem in places where there is no work.
The aid we provide must focus on long-term solutions for industries affected by the rapid rise of the Canadian dollar. Otherwise, taxpayers' money will be providing mere life support for businesses that can no longer compete in global markets.
What did the Conservatives do? They created a community development trust to help the forestry and manufacturing industries. But, and there is a but, they tied that plan to the next budget. Instead of taking immediate action to help severely affected workers, they took the workers hostage.
The Conservatives had to go back on their decision to tie this measly program to the budget. All parties adopted a motion to accelerate passage of the bill through Parliament.
Nonetheless, the measures are just a drop in the bucket, given the ongoing crisis. These measures help people only when they have lost their jobs.
In closing, in light of the many plant and paper mill closures, including one in the riding of Hull—Aylmer, does the minister intend to expand his aid to workers? Will he improve his program in order to help workers living in one-industry towns?