Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the House and speak for the decent and hard-working people of Windsor West. On their behalf, I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to the good people of Tumbler Ridge as they go through the most challenging time of their lives.
Windsor is a border city. For us, when trade works, we work. When a trade war starts, Windsor is on the front lines of that war, but the choices being made here in Ottawa are having a serious impact at home.
It is important to explain what Windsor actually means to this country. Windsor is the automotive capital of Canada. The Windsor-Detroit corridor is the linchpin of our trading relationship, where roughly one-third of all Canada-U.S. trade crosses the border every single day, which amounts to over half a billion dollars every day.
Windsor anchors one of the most integrated supply chains in the world. Auto parts made in Canada cross back and forth to the U.S. several times before the final assembly of a vehicle. When tariffs are imposed and uncertainty grows, the impact is immediate. A delay in Windsor can idle a plant in Michigan. A slowdown in Michigan can shut down a supplier in Ontario. That is why getting our auto policy right is essential if we want to put Canadian workers first.
When I talk to workers back home, they are very clear about where our trouble started. They, too, blame it on the tariffs that President Trump imposed on us. Like us, the people of Windsor believe the tariffs are unjustified. They believe they were meant to target our manufacturing sector and our auto sector, and they hit Canadian auto workers directly. Just yesterday, even the United States Congress said those tariffs against Canada are unjustified.
However, more importantly, there is anxiety and frustration on our side of the border, because of how the government has responded to the trade war so far. Instead of securing protections for Canadian manufacturing and Canadian workers, the government announced billions of dollars in EV subsidies. On the surface, that sounds supportive, but when workers look closely, they see where most of that money is going. A significant portion is going to vehicles built in the United States, in Trump's America, and in other foreign jurisdictions. While Trump's tariffs are hurting Canadian workers, Canadian tax dollars are being used to support American production. The workers on the shop floor are shaking their heads at the complete lack of common sense in this policy.
That is not all. The workers in Windsor have a great memory. They remember being promised a trade deal by July 21, 2025. They remember being told that help was coming, but that deal never arrived. There was no agreement, no certainty and no protection. Many in Windsor are feeling disappointed. They are caught between unfair Trump tariffs on one side and domestic policies that fail to anchor production and secure good-paying jobs on the other. People understand that trade negotiations are complex, but they also understand when promises are not kept.
This issue goes well beyond the big three automotive companies. Today, we are producing half the cars that we did in 2016, going from 2.3 million cars a year to 1.2 million cars a year. All of that decline took place under the Liberal-NDP rule.
In Windsor and across southwestern Ontario, parts manufacturers and tool and die shops are under real threat. These are smaller businesses, often family-run, that are highly-skilled and absolutely essential to the auto supply chain. However, when assembly lines slow down, the orders for these smaller companies disappear, and when uncertainty drags on, layoffs begin quietly. I can tell the House that this is happening on both sides of the border, unfortunately. I am hearing from tool and die shops that have already let workers go. Parts suppliers are cutting shifts. This is how economic damage spreads. It is out of sight from Ottawa, but deeply felt in cities like Windsor, London, Hamilton, Brampton, Oshawa and Quebec.
There is another concern that comes up over and over again, which is that capital investment is leaving Canada. Banks have published studies on this, by the way. Other Canadian companies besides Brookfield Asset Management are choosing to invest in Trump's America, not because Canadian workers lack skills and not because our plants lack capacity. I am being told by manufacturers that the rules south of the border are clearer, that the regulators there are helpful instead of hindering, that the costs feel lower and that the path to profitability feels more stable. Some of these folks have told me that the red tape on our side of the border is choking entrepreneurs. When will the government address this issue?
I have also had the opportunity to speak with a few workers, who have talked to me about the EV policy. They told me the production for the EV Dodge Charger model that was just referred to has been paused, yet it won awards at the Detroit Auto Show. As of January 2026, the Pacifica plug-in hybrid is also being phased out by Stellantis.
These workers are not debating climate goals; they are asking for clarity. They hear that the EV mandate is gone, but they are not happy about our tax dollars subsidizing cars made in Trump's America. When I mentioned our Conservative proposal for removing the GST on Canadian-made vehicles to support our manufacturing jobs, members can imagine their answer. They are all for it.
Before I go on, I want to briefly mention the Gordie Howe bridge, which has been under construction for eight years. It was completely approved in 2015, but the Liberal government did not put a shovel in the ground until 2018. The bridge is critical to both Windsor's and Canada's international trade.
We have heard about the comments made by the President and the subsequent conversations he had with the Prime Minister, but the people in Windsor have been waiting and seeing delay after delay. Now they are even more uncertain as to when this bridge will open or even when the toll rates will be announced. Incredibly enough, the Liberal government and its Crown corporation have not come up with toll rates after starting the project over eight years ago. It is absolutely incredible. For logistics companies, which plan months ahead while bidding on contracts, the lack of certainty and information on toll rates hurts their ability to compete.
This has to change. The government needs to provide firm timelines on when this bridge will open. People in Windsor and across southwestern Ontario need that information yesterday.
What do people in Windsor really need? The people in my city are reasonable, and they have reasonable expectations. They want their government to defend Canadian jobs, first and foremost, to stop sending our tax dollars to President Trump and to secure a trade deal that protects us and keeps investments in Canada. They are not asking for guarantees; they are asking for honesty and integrity.
This is the picture in Windsor. The unjustified tariffs by President Trump started the damage, the absence of an intelligent Canadian response by the Liberals allowed it to deepen, and workers, along with suppliers and small manufacturers, are paying the price.
Windsor is not the edge of the country, but one of its economic engines, and it is an important one, I might add. If we are serious about putting Canadians first and wanting workers in Windsor to believe their government believes in them, we must be serious about what happens to Windsor and its workers. They are relying on the House to come up with a proper solution so that they and their families have a viable future and their kids can enjoy all of the benefits this great nation has to offer.