Mr. Speaker, yesterday’s announcement by the Biden administration for a buy America plan will mean Canadian companies will be largely excluded from U.S. government contracts and projects.
This will be devastating for hard-working Canadians in manufacturing, production, aluminum and steel. I was talking with a manufacturing company in my riding of Kelowna—Lake Country this morning that is worried about being shut out through their U.S. distributor, which sells to the U.S. government.
The U.S. is our largest market. It is worth half a trillion dollars in yearly exports. When former President Obama put in buy America policies, the Conservative government quickly negotiated an agreement to allow Canadian companies to continue participating.
This will put our mutual economic recovery at risk. While the Liberals may be just fine with saying that they are concerned or disappointed with U.S. trade issues, Canada’s Conservatives are focused on securing jobs, securing the economy and securing our future.
The Prime Minister needs to get to work—