Debates of Nov. 26th, 2018

General Motors Plant Closure

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we were not invited to Davos where the Liberals did all their work, so it is kind of difficult to know what was happening at the Hy's and champagne cocktail circuit at the time.

However, the member should take a look at the clippings. He would understand from people who know the industry and know this business that those 700 engineering jobs, which the government took as a sign that it was as good as having a definite promise that there was going to be a plant there, are nowhere as good as 7,000 manufacturing jobs on the line. That is the absolute truth.

We will stand here and support a government that will go out there and have a plan to retain these jobs. We are not throwing in the towel. We are not raising the white flag. We are going to stay here and debate this issue because it really matters to the lives of people. Their complete trajectory of what kind of life they could possibly have is going to be fundamentally affected by decisions taken in this place right now.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I share that sense from Unifor leader Jerry Dias of “over my dead body”, but in concrete terms, we know GM has made a decision. We know it flagged and signalled that it would be making that decision more than a year ago because it was changing its product line.

We know the federal government is not supposed to dictate what product line a company manufactures. However, I remember the story of the response from FDR in the Second World War when he told the car manufacturers they needed to make tanks, because they were facing a real threat, and they refused to make them. The president of the United States said that by law, they were not allowed to makes cars anymore, that they were to make tanks.

In some ways, and not all ways, the climate crisis resembles preparation for war. It involves disruptive technology and it involves change. We want to protect workers through that change.

Would the member for Milton share what the government should do now to save those jobs and can we manufacture electric vehicles instead?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I believe electric vehicles are part of the mix, but here is the piece that people are glossing over. The reason why these vehicles on the line currently in Oshawa are not being sold is because people do not want to buy them. It is pretty simple. What they do want do buy are buy trucks and crossover sport utility vehicles. The reason why they want to do that is because they can get more comfort for the money they spend and the value they put into these vehicles.

If members do not believe me, talk to any of the automotive manufacturers in the GTA that will tell them exactly the same thing. It is not about whether somebody is moving to an electric vehicle. This about the fact that people are actually utilizing vehicles that are bigger and more comfortable because they have become so technologically advanced that they can give the same kinds of results and better fuel mileage than they ever did before.

The reality is that Oshawa was building vehicles that no one was buying, but Canadians should be competitive enough to say they can build anything. What is the most popular vehicle that will be sold in the North American continent in the next year? We have the ingenuity, we have the competitiveness, we have the tax system and we have the people who can build it. That is the conversation we should be having instead of a conversation about we are really good here, we hope GM can do good things with us and Canada is back.

[Kim Rudd, Liberal, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as we know, today General Motors announced that it would be shutting down its assembly facility in Oshawa, affecting thousands of women and men in Oshawa and southern Ontario, including in my riding of Northumberland—Peterborough South. As a member of the surrounding region, I was personally deeply disappointed to hear today's announcement by GM. I want to assure my neighbours in Oshawa and the surrounding communities that our government is prepared to take action to assist those affected.

I know the automotive industry is a major contributor to the Canadian economy, employing over 500,000 people in direct and indirect jobs and contributing $18 billion to our GDP. For decades, the Government of Canada has worked closely with the automotive sector and it is heartbreaking to know that thousands of people will be affected by the decision of GM to stop operations in Oshawa. Our government is committed to ensuring we do everything we can to alleviate the concern that many Canadians, particularly my friends and neighbours in Oshawa, are feeling right now, and we continue to support good middle-class jobs for Canadians.

As a government, we are committed to assisting those who have been directly affected by today's decision and will deliver the benefits that employees are entitled to with the quality of service they deserve. There is a suite of services available which can be deployed quickly to support workers. Those in Oshawa and all Canadians should know that our government is working closely with our provincial and municipal partners to explore every option available for affected employees.

We recognize that this decision not only impacts those employed at GM's Oshawa facility, but also the thousands of people across southern Ontario who work for many of the suppliers to the Oshawa facility. In recognizing that this decision will have impacts on communities across the province, we are continuing to monitor the situation and are examining all options to not just help affected employees but businesses as well.

Employment insurance can provide temporary income support to Canadians when they have lost their job through no fault of their own while they look for work or indeed upgrade their skills. Additionally, Service Canada has an online job bank that lists available positions, labour market information, career exploration and resumé building. These programs work hand in hand with available labour market information that will help affected workers find information about occupations as well as labour market trends and outlooks. While these are established programs, they will be available to those currently affected in Oshawa and we will be examining all other options to ensure that all affected workers will be supported.

I would like to mention at this time, Mr. Speaker, that I will be splitting my time with the wonderful member for Vaughan—Woodbridge.

In addition to what our government is providing, the Ontario government has various programs and service offerings available to workers and employees who have been directly affected by the closing of GM Oshawa. The provincial second career program supports unemployed laid-off individuals with skills training to help them find employment in occupations that are in demand. The sector partnerships planning grant supports the development of partnerships and strategies that will identify workforce needs among industry employers and develop employment and training solutions that meet the needs of employers, job seekers and workers.

Our government provides programs to support not only the employees but the businesses as well. Since we formed government, total investments in the automotive sector have exceeded $5.6 billion, showing the strength of Canada's automotive environment and the strength of our world-leading talent. Our government has been a steadfast partner of the automotive industry and our strategic innovation fund has been an excellent example of that mutual relationship, providing support to large, small and medium-sized businesses across Canada to be more innovative and competitive.

The strategic innovation fund is just one part of our larger innovation and skills plan announced in budget 2017, which is positioning Canada as a leader in the global economy, with commitments to support digital innovation and invest in clean technology. Our government is taking concrete action to ensure that Canada is the location of choice to build the cars of the future by making investments in foundational research, such as our budget 2018 announcement of $925 million through Canada's granting councils. This money will support cutting-edge research across Canada.

Our government will continue to invest in autonomous and zero emission research and development at our leading facilities, universities, colleges and research labs.

While we are deeply disappointed in today's decision of GM, we want Canadians to know that every option is on the table to help those affected. We will continue to work closely with the province and municipality to monitor the situation and provide support as necessary.

Canada has a long and proud history of automotive manufacturing and the steps our government is taking will ensure that we are the location of choice to build the car of the future. Our government will continue to strengthen Canada's economy in order to remain competitive in the global market. We will do everything we can to support those affected by today's decision.

On a personal note, for over 40 years, I have lived 30 minutes from GM in Oshawa. My first job when we moved to the area was with a company that was part of its supply chain. Everyone knew someone or many someones who worked at General Motors.

General Motors is and has been an integral part of the fabric of the community of Oshawa and surrounding area. I know this is a day that we are all very truly sad has come.

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

I have the honour to inform the House that a communication has been received as follows:

November 26, 2018

The Honourable

The Speaker of the House of Commons

Ottawa

Mr. Speaker,

I have the honour to inform you that Ms. Assunta Di Lorenzo, Secretary to the Governor General and Herald Chancellor, in her capacity as Deputy of the Governor General, signified royal assent by written declaration to the bills listed in the Schedule to this letter on the 26th day of November, 2018, at 8:33 p.m.

Yours sincerely,

Christine MacIntyre

Executive Director, Events, Household and Visitor Services

The bills assented to were Bill C-62, an act to amend the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act and other acts, and Bill C-89, an act to provide for the resumption and continuation of postal services.

The House resumed consideration of the motion.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member for Northumberland—Peterborough South speaking in this debate. However, she should know from her riding its history, particularly with Collins & Aikman, which was one of the parts suppliers that in the global recession of 2007-08-09 went down and jobs were lost.

The good thing is that in that period, GM and Chrysler were retained and those assembly facilities, the GM Oshawa, remains a very competitive and productive facility. However, if we look at the reasons why Oshawa was chosen as a site for no vehicles, we have tariff issues on steel and aluminum, rising costs that relate to the retaliatory tariffs that Canada is imposing and a whole range of issues that we could address on a bipartisan basis.

She is my neighbouring member, and I know she has residents impacted and worried about this. Will she raise with her caucus the importance of listening to the manufacturing and parts sector on the impact of Canada's tariffs? They are not having the retaliatory impact on the U.S. we thought or hoped they would. If they are hurting jobs and our competitiveness at home, will she undertake to push her government and her minister to remove some of these uncompetitive tariffs?

[Kim Rudd, Liberal, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member's information is a little out of date. What was Davidson Rubber, a supply company to GM, became Collins & Aikman, but it did not close. In fact, it just received money in the last couple of years from the provincial government and some from the federal government, and are looking at hiring 100 more people. Its contracts are actually with Chrysler, so while we certainly have had a downturn in the supply chain, there has been innovation and new technologies that we and the former provincial government have been able to support to in fact increase jobs.

However, he is absolutely right. I have members in my riding who are worried. I just received a couple of notes from friends who have children working at that plant, and they are worried about their futures.

One of the things I talked about in my speech was the opportunity for skills training and retraining. There are a lot of very talented skilled trades workers and employees at that General Motors plant in Oshawa, and certainly, as a government, we will be doing everything we can to make sure they have all the skills they need to transition into other jobs that will be available.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I was also listening to the Conservative intervention and trying to tie the tariffs the Americans are putting on Canada and the retaliatory tariffs Canada is putting on the States, when really, one out of the eight plants is a Canadian plant. Four are American plants. One is in Korea. Two other are global plants. We are looking at a global restructuring by General Motors that we are responding to. We need to keep up with the market, to get to where the puck is going and to be in the new vehicles, the new fuels and the new communications technologies.

We have a riding that is very close to nuclear facilities. We have the best welders in the world working there. We have people who are involved with the electronic supply chain. Could the member just mention how, with these transferable skills that people have, though they may not be feeling like they have them today because of the terrible news we received, they can transition into new jobs, and that if they do not have them, we can help them transition into these new jobs through our work integrated learning programs and other programs to help them re-skill and retool for the jobs of the future?

[Kim Rudd, Liberal, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the supply chain is alive and well, certainly in the member's riding. I know, because I have visited.

He mentioned the hockey analogy of our going to where the puck is, which is very appropriate. It is what the work integrated learning and the opportunities for skills acquisition are all about. It was clear as I read the release from General Motors, in which it talks about the other plants in the U.S. and other countries, that this is about global restructuring. Unfortunately, it happens more than we would like to see it happen, but the reality is that out this will come opportunities, and we will be there every step of the way to help those employees and businesses realize those opportunities.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, obviously it is a little melancholy to rise to speak about something that will impact a lot of families in a specific region of Canada, Oshawa, families who want to have better futures for their children, want to see a better day when they wake up and whose careers have been altered by today's announcement.

It goes without saying, and we have all commented tonight about how deeply saddened and concerned we are about General Motors' overnight announcement and this morning's confirmation that it would be shutting down a number of facilities in North America and one in Korea. The automotive parts sector and manufacturing industry is close to my heart.

In my riding last week, I spent a considerable amount of time with the CEO and president of Martinrea, Rob Wildeboer. We toured the oil field facility in my riding, which employs about 550 people in good, middle-class jobs. In talking to some of the folks who work there, I could just imagine, and in some ways just try to empathize with, what the folks in Oshawa are going through in finding out that their jobs will most likely not be there in a few months. It is devastating, and we always need to think about that.

Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, our government has been a big supporter of the automotive industry. Last year, he came to my riding and visited an auto parts facility owned by The Woodbridge Group. We spent some time there talking to some of the employees. We could see the diversity that Canada is about, and how the people there go to work with pride, much like the pride demonstrated day in, day out for the last 100 years by the folks who work at the Oshawa facility.

In the time I covered the auto sector, both at a credit rating agency and later at a bond desk, year in, year out the Oshawa facility was rated as one of the most efficient facilities and as producing one of the highest quality products. J.D. Power gives annual rankings, and the Oshawa facility would always come out on top. Unfortunately, we know some of those products were recently taken out of Oshawa, which is what we call “product cadence”, and production volumes over the years have declined. It was something I was very cognizant of.

However, my conversation last week with the CEO of Martinrea affirmed to me that there is a future for the automotive industry in Canada, and that our government is providing the right policies and regulatory environment and support. Rob praised our negotiating team for the recent USMCA. He worked very closely with our team, and he praised the minister of global affairs for the job the team had done. That was something I took back and was very proud of. I spent several hours with him and his team at Alfield, which supplies the General Motors facility in Ingersoll, Ontario. Actually, my wife and I drive a Chevrolet Equinox, and that is where that vehicle was made. I am proud to drive that very good quality vehicle.

as I said, our government has been unwavering in its support for the automotive industry since 2015. A number of my colleagues have commented on that today, and I would like to re-emphasize that our government has invested $389 million, leveraging $4.1 billion in investments, in the sector, leading to a total investment of $5.6 billion. Our strategy continues to do that.

What we must understand is that the automotive sector, much like a lot of industries these days, is transforming itself. We need to make sure we are focused on the importance of a policy of moving up the value-added production chain, whether it is electric or autonomous vehicles. Our government is there with investments in skills training. The GM facility in Markham is hiring literally hundreds of engineers.

Earlier today, I also had an opportunity speak on another matter, Bill C-86. I mentioned that Canadians are bold and tough people, who expect the same thing their government. They expect us to be bold, tough and decisive. One thing I know I have learned since I have been here is that our government will have the backs of these employees, that they can rest assured of that. We will have the backs of the automotive industry.

In the time I spent covering the auto sector, I had the opportunity to travel to BMW in Munich and to Würzburg, as well as to Volkswagen, and over to Asia and, obviously, to Detroit. They were the big three at the time, which has since changed because it used to be DaimlerChrysler, which is now FCA, and Ford and General Motors.

The industry has changed a lot. The 2008-09 crisis taught us that we need to work together. The provincial government worked alongside the federal government, two different parties, to save those jobs, to save the supply chain, which was the right decision.

If we fast forward to today, our government continues to ensure that key investments are made and that the regulatory environment is favourable for manufacturing here in Ontario and across Canada from coast to coast to coast.

Our government's strategy leverage is to have a broad array of policies intended to support innovation, enhance manufacturing competitiveness and secure investment through a comprehensive approach, including support for auto innovation programs such as the industrial research assistance program, tax incentives through the scientific research and experimental development tax credit and the ACCA allowance for manufacturing.

I would like to speak to that because we did introduce our 2018 fall economic statement last week. I am a pro-business MP from a riding that is very entrepreneurial, with a number of head offices located in it. Magna is located not too far away. Martinrea is about a kilometre from my constituency office. Some of the largest entrepreneurs in the county live and work and employ tens of thousands of Canadians not only in my riding, but also tens of thousands of Canadians across North America.

It was great to see our government put in an accelerated capital cost allowance, the annual incentive for investment.

One thing that we have committed to is skills training and making sure that every Canadian has a career and finds his or her fullest potential. We will do that with these employees in Oshawa. We will ensure that they have a brighter future for their families.

Transition is tough. I grew up in what was basically a one or two industry town in northern British Columbia. My father worked in a pulp mill. Just before he retired the pulp mill closed down, the company went bankrupt, and the pulp mill is no more. It was Redpath Industries.

I can empathize on a personal level with what some of the families are going through this evening and will go through in the following months. It is tough to go through transition, because there are a lot of questions that have to be answered and bills to be paid.

Our government will be there. We have a great Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and a Prime Minister who knows the sector. He recently visited FCA's facilities in Windsor. As I said, he came to my humble riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge and visited the wonderful people who work at the Woodbridge Group there, a plant that has been there since just before the Great Depression. The plant's history is phenomenal.

I have believed in the sector for a long time. I have covered it and met with many industry leaders, from CEOs down to treasurers. I can still remember the conversations about how great the industry was to operate in Canada, our highly skilled labour force, the quality of our supply chains, the tool and dye makers all over southwestern Ontario into central Toronto. We need to remember that.

We can look at other industries worldwide that have gone through similar transformations, whether the steel industry in Pittsburgh or industries in Cleveland, where tens of thousands of people were once employed. We have had to change and transform. This sector is to a certain extent like that.

We need to be at the forefront, and our government is at the forefront by investing in skills training, making investments and partnering in autonomous vehicles. We have had some success with Honda, Toyota, Ford, and other OEMs and General Motors, especially in Ingersoll and its other facility. We will continue to do that.

With respect to Oshawa, we will make sure that we have the employees back. We will make sure that we can do something. We will look at all options. These folks are skilled and talented. They have a future. We are doing the right things to ensure that manufacturing in Canada, especially highly value-added manufacturing, remains robust. That is what we are seeing.

I hear it everyday when I speak to stakeholders in my riding, whether it is Vision, Vision Products or Martinrea and Kisko. I could name about 20 or 30 of them that operate in my riding and that are doing very well and are proud to be Canadian and to continue to invest in Canada.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge talked about Martinrea and a number of the world-class parts manufacturers in southern Ontario. The challenge with what we see today and why we are here in an emergency debate trying to forge solutions is the Prime Minister's initial response. Understandably, he was sympathetic for the families. We are sympathetic, too, but with the closure over a year away, is there not time to address some of the underlying uncompetitive elements of our economy, be they payroll taxes, tariffs on steel and aluminum, some of the retaliatory tariffs? We see the retaliatory tariffs in particular impacting the supply chain and seeing cost pressures creep in. One large assembly customer is now going to be out of the network in the Great Lakes auto basin.

Can the member, who has lots of parts suppliers in his riding, not tell the House that the pressures from Canada's own retaliatory tariffs are causing undue price increases and making some of our world-class suppliers, like Martinrea and Magna, pay more and be less competitive? Can he push to come up with a plan to start addressing these fundamental issues?

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when we became government, we had an auto innovation fund which we transformed so we could make direct investments to auto parts suppliers and the OEMs, and we have done that. The hon. member for Durham should know that. We have created literally tens of thousands of jobs, direct and indirect, with that plan. Second, just recently we introduced the accelerated capital cost allowance, which allows for the immediate expensing of investments. On the accelerated investment income, we have tripled the rate to invest and get returns, which will be another great thing for manufacturers.

The one salient point the hon. member for Durham misses is that these assembly plants are based on a product cadence, which is determined by each of the individual automotive manufacturers. It is up to each of the individual private companies to determine that. General Motors has made a strategic decision to determine that. If anything changes between now and next year, that will be wonderful, but we need to be realistic. I do not believe in the pie in the sky and I do not believe in being Pollyannaish. We need to deal with the situation at hand, support the workers, support their families and move forward. If there is a solution, great, but let us make sure these workers know a brighter future awaits them and that their government has their backs.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Milton just proclaimed Unifor president Jerry Dias to be a very close friend. I will read a quote while she was minister of transport, which states:

“I have called the minister every day since last Thursday, and she won’t even pick up the phone,” said Jerry Dias, national president of Unifor. “We’re prepared to work around the clock to find a sustainable solution, but [the] Minister...would rather pick a fight than find a solution.”

The member for Durham just said that it is the tariffs that are causing the problem, but today on Reuters News Agency, explaining the move to close plants in the United States, the head of GM said that the tariffs in the United States have cost GM $1 billion. Those are the American tariffs costing GM $1 billion and it is one of the things that has prompted this set of decisions that GM made.

Could the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge please expand upon why the tariffs are not just an impact in Canada but also a huge impact in the United States and that those tariffs have to be removed, of course, but that they are not the only decision that is driving all of the information we have heard today from GM?

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have a very integrated supply chain. When a vehicle is made in Canada, it will cross the border between Canada and the United States several times before it is finished. The tariffs are impacting both sides of the border. Just as much as they are impacting us, the tariffs are, unfortunately, impacting many American businesses. The decision that was made by General Motors had nothing to do with the tariffs that were put in place at all. We know that. In this morning's conference call with the GM CEO, we know that sides have to produce an explanation. The retaliatory tariffs or the initial tariffs had nothing to do with any of these types of decisions. A company bases its decision on a long-term plan of product cadence and product portfolio and this would not enter into that calculation at all.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am sharing my time with the hon. member for Elgin—Middlesex—London, who is a great member of Parliament.

Like many today, and the thousands of General Motors employees and pensioners, I too stand here stunned at the news of the General Motors closure in Oshawa.

As we all know, General Motors confirmed today that as part of its global restructuring plan, the Oshawa assembly plant will cease operations at the end of 2019, thus ending a long and proud tradition in Oshawa, which has been a reliable home to General Motors for decades. There are over 2,500 Canadian workers and their families who will now have a very different Christmas than the one they envisioned just a few days ago.

There is more at stake, though, than just the 2,500 jobs at the plant. The closure of this assembly plant will wipe out $1 billion in GDP and will ripple throughout the supply chain, putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk. We are talking about truck drivers, restaurant workers, employees who work in auto parts manufacturing, retail employees and the list goes on.

Let us also not forget about those who worked for decades at GM, the over 37,000 pensioners who built the most productive and versatile assembly plant in the world. They have been calling my office in Lindsay today, and rightly so, concerned about what this might mean for their retirement.

In 2009, the automotive industry faced one crisis in particular. General Motors was facing bankruptcy. Canadian taxpayers stepped up and ensured that the automotive industry would remain healthy and would continue in southern Ontario.

GM employees stepped up, and they did what they needed to do to ensure that taxpayer dollars were not wasted. GM employees in Oshawa worked hard and stepped up their game. They put their best efforts forward, and as a result, they earned the best productivity ratings of any GM plant in the world.

What about that taxpayer loan of 2009? CBC is reporting today that the Minister of Finance quietly wrote off a loan last March, leading to speculation that it could be in the automotive industry.

For years we have been warning this government that investment is fleeing this country to more business-friendly jurisdictions. This has become more pronounced in the last year in the energy sector. We have watched in disbelief as Alberta oil and gas has been decimated by the Liberal government. The Prime Minister has created a toxic environment for resource investment in this country, raising taxes and creating new regulations at the precise time that other countries are lowering theirs. This has driven billions of dollars of oil and gas investment and thousands of jobs out of this country. We are faced with trade uncertainty and sector-crippling steel and aluminum tariffs.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer found that the Liberal carbon tax will take $10 billion out of the Canadian economy by 2022, while other estimates argue the cost could be as much as $35 billion a year.

Let us not forget that this year's deficit is more than three times what the Prime Minister said it would be, and the Prime Minister has added $60 billion in new debt. Next year, the deficit will be even higher. The Liberals have no plan to return to balance, and as we all know, more debt today means higher taxes tomorrow and even service cuts.

As a result of the Prime Minister's reckless borrowing, last year the Liberals spent $23 billion servicing the national debt alone. By 2023, the Parliamentary Budget Officer says that amount will rise to $37 billion, which is a 60% increase. At that point, the Liberals will be spending more on debt interest than we currently pay in health transfers.

Just last week the Prime Minister presented a fall economic update to Canadians that painted a rosy picture of Canada's economy. Despite mounting debt and deficits, rising inflation and interest rates, billions in lost investment in the energy and resource sectors and a continuing crisis in the resource sector with no plan to get us out of it, the Prime Minister insisted that all was well. We know how that turned out. Only days later, we learned of this closure.

I have been critical up to this point, but members must understand that I am quite frustrated. I represent part of north Durham. As we all know, the city of Oshawa is in the Durham region, so in my riding, there are a lot of people who work at the GM plant and a lot more pensioners.

Not only that, I think we all witnessed that with General Electric in Peterborough. Many of those workers lived in my riding of Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock. They lost their jobs when the Liberal government failed energy east. It had a contract to build motors for that pipeline. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. That plant closed after that announcement was made. Now we are seeing the same thing again. However, I must remind myself that we are here to find solutions. We owe it to General Motors workers and their families to not give up on day one.

For decades, GM workers have contributed to the economy of southern Ontario and have contributed directly to their community as coaches, volunteer firefighters, neighbourhood volunteers and the list goes on. As I mentioned, we see this in my communities in the townships of Brock and Cavan Monaghan, and in Kawartha Lakes. Now more than ever we need to focus on how we can get those affected back on their feet.

As I mentioned, we are not ready to throw in the towel yet, because we know that if we do not fight for the jobs today, they probably will not be back tomorrow. Therefore, we need to push for increasing investment attractiveness here in Canada to create business-friendly environments for future generations. I and many of my constituents know there is much more the government can do to improve the business climate here in Canada. I keep repeating that I am not willing to give up the fight just yet.

General Motors mentioned in its press release that there is a possibility the plant could be retooled. I want to be optimistic and I see this as an opportunity to get our foot in the door before it is closed for good. As such, I would encourage the government to look at all available options in its tool box to save these jobs.

In the General Motors announcements of the plant closures, the company talked about transforming its business to focus more on electric and autonomous vehicles over the next two years. I think we would all agree that is good news. Canadians are number one in the world in green technology. If GM said it will refocus and redirect resources to autonomous and zero-emission vehicles, I say perfect. Let us build them here, though.

Perhaps there is a partnership the government can facilitate between GM and our green technology entrepreneurs. We have built centres of excellence for other sectors before. There are places of convergence, places to explore, discuss and create ideas. With the right investments, we can create a green vehicle technology hub and work with GM and other interested automotive companies to reach their business goals, protect the environment and create jobs and wealth for Canadians. That is just one idea. Of course, there are many more, and we have heard them all this evening in this emergency debate. I encourage the government to take some of these suggestions back with it, explore these ideas, and not give up on Oshawa.

As we all know, GM workers have shown resiliency before and they will do so again. As parliamentarians, we need to stand side by side with them and ensure that we have done everything possible before throwing in the towel. I think we all believe there is a future for automotive manufacturing here in Canada. That is why the Conservatives have asked for this emergency debate this evening, to discuss what immediate action the Liberal government will take in response to the significant number of job losses due to this Oshawa plant closure.

Conservatives and Canadians stood up for GM workers in 2009 and we will continue to stand up for them now.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in his speech the member said that in 2009 the previous government bailed out General Motors. He said that we should not throw in the towel and that we should explore every option available. Those are sentiments I and all members on this side of the House agree with.

I would like him to give me specific examples of what he thinks can be done, particularly in light of the fact that his own leader, Doug Ford, said that it is done and it is over.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my friend across the way is the chair of the natural resources committee, and I enjoy working with him each and every day. I appreciate his comments.

As I have said many times before, I do not think the Ontario government is throwing in the towel at all. In my speech, I outlined a number of areas and initiatives the government could use to help the situation, such as facilitate conversations between interested parties to ensure that if General Motors wants to build the green technology car of the future, it does it in Oshawa. We have the infrastructure. We have the skilled labour. Everything is set up. We have the options to do that.

The government could also ensure that Canada is a business-friendly environment. That is something we have not seen in the energy industry. We only have to look at Alberta right now and the price of oil to see how that province is suffering because of the policies of the Liberal government.

I outlined a number of options. The member opposite is the chair of the committee and we have been discussing way more options than this. I invite him to continue this debate at any time.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I sat in the House all evening. I just heard the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore speak. I think it was an attempt at a cheap joke. However, this is not a laughing matter to those 2,800 families, plus the thousands more who are going to be affected by this. I do not appreciate that and I am sure those families in Oshawa do not either.

I want to ask my hon. colleague about the issue of competitiveness because that is one of the underlying issues in effect here. The tax regime and environmental regime imposed by the government are having a significant impact, as we have found out, not only in the automotive sector. The tariffs are also having an impact as well.

I am wondering if my hon. colleague could speak to competitiveness in general.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, every time a government puts in place a tax, a rule, a regulation or a policy, and implements those costs in business, business will adjust some way, somehow, somewhere. I think that is very important to understand in this context of how we make Canada a competitive market.

Given that we just experienced a massive investment fleeing Canada in the oil and gas industry and we are seeing this announcement here by General Motors in Oshawa, something clearly went wrong. I was just reading that the finishing of the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra is done at the Oshawa assembly plant. Those are some of the hottest selling vehicles in the market.

Therefore, the question is why? How did this happen? If we have the infrastructure, we have the best workforce who are the most productive, and we have the hottest selling vehicles in the market being finished at that plant, what happened? I could probably guess rules, regulations and red tape. We have some of the highest energy costs in North America right here in the province of Ontario.

I think as this comes out and as we move forward, we need to figure out why this happened and then work at ways of fixing that, allowing the manufacturing sector in Ontario to continue to survive and also, hopefully, find a way for this plant in Oshawa to be retooled to produce what GM is calling the green vehicle of the future.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish I could give everybody great hope. I am from the city of St. Thomas where, back on January 23, 2006, the day of the federal election, Ford Motor Company announced that it would be reducing down to one shift. On October 14, 2008, our next federal election, the Sterling truck plant announced that very day that it was closing. Therefore, I come from a city and region that has felt this economic impact so greatly, and that is what I want to focus on. We do need hope here, but we also have to have some reality checks. Tonight is going to be a difficult debate. I have seen so many families who have gone through this.

As I have always mention in this House, I was the proud assistant of Joe Preston, the member of Parliament from 2004 to 2015, and that gave me the opportunity to work with so many individuals who had worked at the Ford Motor Company and the Sterling truck plant. These were very difficult times. People were coming in and saying they had lost their jobs. They usually blamed it on the government, which I understand because, at the end of the day, there is some part that the government has to play. That is why, when we have talked about competitiveness and about tariffs, all of those pieces are part of the puzzle and we cannot forget that.

Back in 2006 when it was announced, it was a very difficult day.

In 1967, the Ford Motor Company came to the city of St. Thomas and people leaving high school were able to get fantastic-paying jobs. Students were able to pay for their college and university, just based on their summer jobs there. People were able to work Fridays and Saturdays for 12-hour shifts and, once again, pay for their university and college. There were so many opportunities, and all of those opportunities disappeared when the Ford Motor Company disappeared.

It was the same thing with the Sterling truck plant. In 2008, it announced that it was leaving. As I said, it was the federal election day. It seemed to always happen to Joe and me as we were working on these federal elections. We just did not know what was going to happen. In 2011 and 2015, when we escaped with no terrible announcements, we were very pleased.

We have to recognize it is not just the 2,800 jobs, but it is also all of those secondary and tertiary jobs that really matter. It is much greater than the 2,500 unionized staff and the 300 non-unionized staff. That is why I want to speak about the challenges we saw in St. Thomas as well.

The day that the Ford plant closed in St. Thomas, it was noted in the Financial Post, “Making matters worse is that a number of Ford’s suppliers in the area, including Lear Seating, have also announced they will be closing their own doors as a result of the plant’s demise.”

We still have about one in four jobs in St. Thomas that are tied to manufacturing, and many of those are still in the automotive parts. In that year, we lost Lear and Schulman. Schulman did not deal with the fabrications per se, but with the plastics that had to do with the steering wheels. We lost people who worked in the cafeteria, who prepared over 4,000 meals a day. Those were great jobs and people knew they could go to work and get paid, but we lost them. One other huge part of our industry that was really impacted was Auto Holloway. I remember going to school with many kids whose parents worked at Auto Holloway. It had great-paying jobs. My brother worked for the company, and when the Ford Motor Company left, that job was gone as well.

We are not just talking about the cars once they are manufactured and shipped off; we are talking about the tires, the engines and all of the different parts of the cars that are brought in by CN Rail or CP or by the 400 road series. All of these jobs are lost as well. Therefore, today as we are talking about Oshawa and about the 2,800 jobs, we have to recognize all of the spinoff effects and impacts and ripple effects that this is going to have on that community.

It is important for the government to step up. I am hoping that during this emergency debate the Liberals will step up and work with the opposition parties that asked for this emergency debate. We need to make sure it is not just about employment insurance, but that it is about what we can do next. Employment insurance is a band-aid solution. Although Service Canada will set up in special areas where people will work with the workers, that has to be seen as a short-term fix. Employment insurance is only meant to get people through the rough spots.

This is where I really encourage the government to get a plan for how we can keep this company here in Oshawa and keep people working today, or how, in the future, the government can make sure that these jobs come back.

St. Thomas is in the county of Elgin. We are lumped in with the city of London when it comes to our unemployment rates. During the global economic downturn, we were able to separate that information. In the county of Elgin, in the city of St. Thomas, we were at about a 15% unemployment rate. We had growing poverty, growing job losses, and people were losing their homes.

I had the opportunity to work with many of these people. There were a lot of crying parents. That year our office bought Christmas presents for families we had met. This is what the people of Oshawa are going to go through, not this Christmas but perhaps next Christmas. It is really important that the government is listening, and asking, “How can we do things better?”

One of the things I have always heard is, “Our job as government is to set the field. It is to create the field and create all the opportunities for competitiveness.” This is really important. Our Conservative caucus is saying today that competitiveness has left the building.

It is really important that we recognize that tariffs are having an impact on many of our companies. We can talk about the CPP, about all of the new costs to business. We are seeing this across the country. I truly hope that the government recognizes that until it changes the manner in which it is doing business, this may be the first but it may not be the last. We have to be on top of that.

We also need to talk about labour and talent. We recognize that there are great workers who have worked there. We have talked about some of the products that have been taken off the line. I am sure many of the people in this room tonight and many of the viewers watching at 9:55 p.m. on a Monday evening can remember the Crown Victoria. It is the cop car that we see across Canada. For many years, people in St. Thomas could sit there and say, “That's my car. That's my car. That's my car.” Every time I see a Crown Vic, I know it came off the line in St. Thomas, Ontario.

I have the feeling that the people who work in Oshawa are feeling the exact same way. Many individuals take great pride in the work that they bring forward. Today, as our member for Carleton mentioned, we have to remember the children and the families that are being impacted.

I am going to go back to another conversation I had. Many years ago, we did a lot of round tables. We always dealt with manufacturing. As I indicated, one in four jobs in the city of St. Thomas are with manufacturing. One of the biggest things that one of our companies said was that if they could move today, they would, but they could not, they were here, and they had everything set up.

One of the biggest issues for him was the cost of hydro. That is something the Province of Ontario is really working on, and I am really proud of the work that they have done following this last administration's failures.

We also have to understand employment costs. These are really big factors as well. It is really important. I understand that this is a balance between labour rights and family, but we also have to look at the work in the companies to make sure that they are productive. We have to find that balance.

I do not know if the government is consulting enough to make sure that we are actually on the right path all the time. Those are some great concerns of mine.

My final message is that we do have to stay positive. This is a very difficult situation that many of our workers are going through. They are going to be left without jobs. They are going to be left with mortgage payments and bill payments that do not cease just because they have lost their jobs. If they are like the government, they will have credit card bills to pay as well.

There are many things that we need to think about. We need to come up with a plan. I am not saying I am the right person for the plan, but there are 338 members of Parliament who should care enough about Canada and care enough about our economy that, together, we can come up with a non-partisan plan that will keep these people working in Oshawa, and that will keep this country the great country it is.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I remember the plants closing in St. Thomas. I remember the Sterling plant. We were a supplier to that plant, as well. Some jobs had come up to us from the United States, and then they got removed. I also remember, just down the road, the Navistar plant and the labour disruption there in 2009, 2011. They closed the doors there.

We have not talked much about the role of labour. I am thinking that our consultations with labour are critical in these types of situations. I wonder whether the member could comment on how important it would be for all of us to work with labour to find solutions for the people who work under their watch?

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the member is saying about the labour, but we need to look at this as the entire pie. In order for our businesses to be successful, it has to be the labour, it has to be the business owners, it has to be the consultants and it has to be consumers.

Business is about everybody. A business is about the entire piece of the pie. When we make something, we need a consumer. We need all of that together. The labour is a very important part of this, but I have to always recognize that we have to ensure we focus our needs on everything, and that includes everybody from the beginning of the supply chain to the end of the supply chain.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we have a real difficulty debating this issue tonight because we have a very close lens right on top of the people of Oshawa desperately worried about their jobs, their livelihood, what happens to Oshawa and GM workers. However, if we went to 40,000 feet, we would see a disruptive technology called electric vehicles. We would see the world moving off fossil fuels.

We would ask ourselves if, in 2018, we were replicating, what never did happen, by the way, when people were saying we must protect the horse and buggy and that we must not let cars into market. People even earlier than that were saying that we had to keep whale oil going, that we had all those whalers and we must not let kerosene into the market. Every now and then, and quite often, a disruptive technology comes along for many reasons.

The electric vehicles are disrupting. GM warned us more than a year ago that it would be moving off the internal combustion engine. Therefore, the question now is not necessarily those jobs, but ensuring we have just transition for workers, whether in the oil patch or in making internal combustion engines, saying that there will be better jobs for them, but not necessarily in whaling and not necessarily in horse and buggies.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, the consumer is the one who is going to choose. I know that I should not eat chocolate bars, but I eat chocolate bars. I will always be a chocolate fiend.

My husband worked in the auto sector for a number of years. Not only did he work at the Sterling plant where his job was lost, but he also worked for Elgin Chrysler in the city of St. Thomas. It is interesting, because 10 years ago we would have seen a lot of sedans and small family vehicles. Now that entire lot is filled with RAM Dodge trucks, Jeep Cherokees. I have a Jeep Compass. It is looking at new technologies, but we have to recognize that the consumers are going to buy what they want, and the biggest selling vehicle is the Dodge RAM.

We can try to push things upon people, but at the end of the day, consumers are going to be the ones who choose. We always have to remember that as well.