Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to a question I asked on December 12. The question was quite simple. I wanted to know what the Prime Minister's response was to the crisis in the auto sector.
As members know, there have been a lot of challenges, especially in my community of Oshawa. We all know what happened in Oshawa. It has been a trend over the last four years, the uncertainty for our manufacturing sector. We have seen delay after delay. For example, the original TPP was ready to be signed right after the election, but it was not signed. We almost lost CETA. We are just getting to the new NAFTA.
I hear from manufacturers over and over again about the cost of electricity, the uncertainty environmental regulations and other regulations that are unique to Canada and how that affects our competitiveness.
I asked the Liberals what their plan was. The Conservatives brought forth three motions to study the auto sector and to give the government some ideas on what could be done. Again, the Liberals voted them down.
A lot of people are concerned about the government and how serious it takes our auto sector. Everybody knows we lost our plant in Oshawa. It was not allocated new product and 2,500 jobs were lost because of that. Around the same time, Chrysler announced 1,500 job losses and Ford announced 450 job losses. That was 4,500 job losses in the auto sector alone.
In November of last year, Canada suffered the worst single month in job losses since 2009. I remember you were here, Mr. Speaker, in that great recession. During recessions and leading up to recessions, there are job losses. This is at a time when the world is expanding. However, Canada lost 71,200 jobs in November and 27,500 of those job losses were in our manufacturing sector. That is the biggest job loss in years.
It is very timely that the parliamentary secretary is here. Right now, we are debating the new NAFTA. People who have interest in the auto sector want to find out what this will mean. We have asked the Liberals for a cost-benefit analysis and they are still not forthcoming. In this agreement, it is the first time Canada agreed to ideas of quotas in the automotive sector. We really want to know what that will cost.
We have new rules for the aluminum sector. Aluminum is a big part of automotive sector. It is used to build cars. There is concern about circumvention from Chinese aluminum through Mexico. The Liberals seem to forget this is about people.
I remember when the announcement was made in Oshawa. Our leader was there. He was at the gates, talking to workers, seeing what we could do to help, showing support. Unfortunately, the Liberals did not even show up. The Prime Minister did not even call our mayor for two weeks, and only after increased pressure from me in the House, as well as from other members.
People in the auto sector deserve an explanation. We would like to know how much the new NAFTA will increase the cost of cars. With jobs in Mexico now at $16 per hour, how many of those jobs will move north? What is the advantage in this agreement for jobs to stay in Canada instead of the United States?