Madam Speaker, Windsor has seen a decline in the auto industry as a result of the original free trade agreement. Canada went from being second in the world in automotive assembly to now being 10th. We have lost thousands of jobs. This new agreement only mentions some auto parts.
I am wondering what the Conservative Party's position is with regards to a national auto strategy. Without a strategy, we will continue to lose more jobs and investment. It has been over a decade since Canada had a greenfield production plant. The General Motors plant in Oshawa closed down but the company recently announced a battery facility plant in Michigan.
With regards to the auto industry, do the Conservatives think that there should be some more work for that industry? If so, what would there be in the way of support? If they do not, that is their opinion. What we see is an erosion quite frankly. Detroit alone received upward of $16 billion in auto investment in the last few years whereas Ontario only received $6 billion over the last six years, most of that being retooling, and that was under the previous Conservative government.
I would ask that Conservative member whether or not his party believes the auto sector deserves more than just a trade deal.