Madam Speaker, I absolutely agree with the minister that it is about jobs. That is why we called for this emergency debate. I agree that Ontario is competitive and that a lot of good things happening, and that we have to send that signal. I appreciate his comments about renaming the auto innovation fund started under the Harper government as the strategic innovation fund.
I do not really want to talk about funds. We have steel and aluminum tariffs, and we have retaliatory tariffs, now raising costs in the supply chain. There are payroll taxes, the carbon tax, the Gordie Howe bridge, industrial power rates, and wage pressures. Are any of these factors issues that factored into GM's decision?
The Hill Times had a story on the minister being the most lobbied minister in the government. As I said, that is normal, but it did say, “General Motors of Canada Co. is by far the most common lobbyist of [the minister].”
Were any of those issues raised? I want to have a serious discussion on how we can come up with a plan together. Have these issues, steel tariffs, NAFTA, payroll taxes, the Gordie Howe bridge, and transportation challenges, been addressed by GM Canada in those meetings with the minister? Is he prepared to put forward a plan that we can get behind to eliminate some of those issues before November 2019?