Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to stand in this place to represent the amazing folks of Essex. As always, I want to thank my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, without whom this is not possible.
On behalf of the folks of Essex, yesterday was a really touching day here in the House, a moment of solidarity and thoughts and prayers for the Tumbler Ridge families, victims, survivors and the ones that probably hit me the most, the first responders and the thought of what they are waking up to today and tomorrow and the weeks, months and years ahead. As a first responder myself, I know it is a long journey, and I hope they know there is always somebody to talk to. There is always support. I am thinking of and praying for them.
I want to, first and foremost, thank my colleague from Dufferin—Caledon. He really did encapsulate so much of what my speech is about. I have had the opportunity to live right next to the busiest international border crossing in North America, which will be opened, the Gordie Howe International Bridge. For six and a half years, I have had the opportunity to be a co-chair of the Conservative auto caucus. I have met with dozens and dozens of manufacturers across the country, but specifically in the Windsor-Essex region. These manufacturers have invested enormous amounts of money to create jobs and to create a good, strong tax base for our region. The part that frustrates me the most, probably, is that these are the folks who invest the money and what they end up with is that the goalposts move.
A decade ago, Canada was building about 2.3 million vehicles per year. We are now at about 1.2 million per year. These folks put all the investment into their EVs. I am talking about the mould-makers and the tool shops, the ones that had to retool because the government, the Liberal government, told them that this will be the mandate. Now they have done all that investment, and what do they have? They are told that we are going to go back to fuel engines because the government realized that the consumer is not ready, that the vast majority of consumers are not ready to purchase these EVs. At the same time, it is going to move the goalposts again, so that even though they have made all the investments, the government has given them no support to cover those costs and is now going to talk about a new fuel standard.
I just got back, about a month ago, from a trip with the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group to Mexico. I met with some very influential people down in Mexico. It was a great trip. I also met with the senate of Mexico. I heard about how much further along they are in their talks with the United States, specifically on the automotive sector, than we are. The government, quite frankly, is nowhere near the finish line on that front.
What does that really mean? It means more Canadian jobs lost. Windsor-Essex specifically has 24,000 workers, indirectly and directly, supported by our auto industry. I am sure many of them wake up in the morning and wonder if the third shift at Stellantis is actually going to go down to a second shift again.
I have had an opportunity for so many years now to meet with Brian Kingston, David Adams and Huw Williams. They are from the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association and the global automotive manufacturers association. I have met with Canadian mould-makers. They have been telling me for six and a half years that industry does not drive demand, that consumers drive demand, so get rid of the EV mandates. We have been screaming from the top of the hills to the government to please get rid of the mandates. It finally listened and got rid of the EV mandates. What it did instead was to again move the goalposts. Everybody now gets to start from ground zero once again.
Next week, I will be at the Toronto Auto Show, having round tables with industry leaders once again. I can only imagine what that conversation is going to look like. However, most of all, it is about the workers. It has only ever been about the workers. My father always said that we can have the greatest widget in the world, but we will not build one and we will not sell one without the people.
Windsor—Essex has some of the finest skilled trades workers in the world, the greatest tool and die makers and machinists in the world. The infrastructure is already there, but the government continues to tie the hands of these tier twos, tier threes and the OEMs, who are just trying to put forward good-paying jobs to allow food on the tables of Canadians across this country.
I have met with them on the shop floors. I can promise members that the workers in Windsor—Essex are not very excited when they wake up early in the morning to go to work and find out that, at the end of every week or biweekly off their paycheques, their money will be going to subsidize a job in the United States or in other foreign countries. I can only imagine how incredibly upset they must be. I can only imagine what the conversation on the shop floor is. Can members imagine waking up in the morning and going to work knowing that, at the end of the year, our taxpayer dollars, the ones that we literally worked so hard for and gave to the government, were going to another country, another company, so that they could literally eat your lunch? It is absolutely nonsensical, and it is, quite frankly, disgusting.
These workers have built our industry. They are the same ones, such as those in Unifor, who sponsor so many hockey teams, soccer teams and so many events. We see them everywhere. These are the ones who are truthfully community-minded, and they equally do not deserve to be slapped in the face. That is why Conservatives are always going to put Canadian workers and auto manufacturers first.
Conservatives are not about subsidizing other countries. What we are really about is making life more affordable for Canadians, which is why this bill will introduce the removal of HST on Canadian-built vehicles. What does that mean? It means about $2,500 on a $50,000 vehicle. By the way, the $50,000 vehicles are somewhat out of reach, almost a luxury vehicle for Canadians today, because of the price of food and consumables. I am very proud that my colleagues and I have introduced this piece of legislation, which would make life more affordable.
To conclude, the government told industry, “Here's the goalposts and here's what you're going to do”, and industry did that. Now the government is saying, “Oh, by the way, we know you made huge investments. We're not going to give you any support for those investments, but we just changed the goalposts again.” It is no wonder that Canadian companies are leaving this country in droves when the government makes it so unaffordable to do business in Canada.
Conservatives are here to ensure that we are part of the solution, not part of the problem.