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.