Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the House that I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore.
As we begin this debate on the auto industry, my thoughts are with the 475 Paccar workers in Sainte-Thérèse who have lost their jobs over the past few months. That is 475 men and women and 475 families who have been directly affected by the collapse of Canada's auto industry over the past few years.
Unfortunately, the Liberal decade saw Canada's auto industry decline dramatically. Let us remember that Canada produced 2.3 million vehicles in 2016, but last year, it produced only 1.2 million. That is more than one million fewer vehicles being built here in Canada, and this has ripple effects from coast to coast to coast, and especially in Quebec for auto parts production. This year does not look good, with a decline of 7.8% so far. Most notably, there was a 55% drop in exports, which are a major driver of wealth in our country. Furthermore, jobs are being lost. This industry employed 37,000 workers in 2015, but now it employs only 23,000.
The GM plants in Ingersoll and Oshawa closed down, as did the Stellantis plant in Brampton. Earlier, I also mentioned how 475 people were laid off at the Paccar plant in Sainte‑Thérèse. The situation has not improved at all since the current Prime Minister and his government were elected. In fact, it has gotten worse.
Who would have thought? There are people doing a worse job of managing the economy than Justin Trudeau, and Canadians are the ones paying the price. Let us remember that the Liberals got elected by saying that they were going to keep their elbows up when it came to relations with the United States, but what ended up happening? The Prime Minister went to the White House twice.
What we are seeing is the House of Commons going from elbows up to thumbs-up. Twice we have seen the Prime Minister, very happy, with his brand new friend, the President of the United States. What was supposed to be elbows up has finished as thumbs-up, and Canadians are paying the price right now.
Let me remind the House what happened. A year ago, the Prime Minister said he would fix this situation by July 21.
That is not at all what happened. On July 21, we celebrated the anniversary of the first moon landing, but that is where the celebrations ended because, since the new Prime Minister has been in office, tariffs have cost the Canadian auto industry $2 billion. That is why it is time for a responsible and realistic plan based on a vision for the future.
Our plan seeks to make it easier to build and buy vehicles by removing the GST on all Canadian-made vehicles. That is a win-win proposal. In politics, we sometimes say that we need to kill two birds with one stone. A policy will enable us to do that. By eliminating the GST on new vehicles, we will be helping both buyers and industry workers.
It is a one-two punch to the guys who want to buy and the guys who work in the auto industry. This is the Conservative way to help people: no more taxation and no more programs. Cancelling the GST is the way to address the issue.
We also want to bring production home and set much more effective targets, including adjusting our way of doing things within North American standards with a dollar-for-dollar approach. We also want to ensure that this applies to the manufacturing of both cars and car parts to which Canadians contribute. We want to improve security and technology, together with our partners. It is important to understand that Canada's auto industry is closely linked to our neighbours to the south and it is not all going to change overnight.
We also need to take action on security and safety matters. If I had been making this speech about security and safety maybe 15 or 20 years ago, I would have been thinking about road safety. However, today I am talking about national security. We need to be very aware that today's cars are equipped with computers and surveillance cameras. We are not necessarily talking about spies, but some people might take advantage of that. The technology could be used by bad actors. We need to develop a security plan and a technology plan.
In the last few hours, what we have seen in this room are members of the Liberal Party talking about the virtue of the electric car. They think they are the best in the world to address this in Canada. However, the government is a world-class failure in EVs.
First of all, I would like to declare a conflict of interest: I drive an electric car. I have been driving an electric car for two-and-a-half years now. So far, I have travelled 120,000 kilometres between Quebec City and Ottawa and all around my area. Even better, it is a second-hand car. I am proud of that, because there is nothing greener than an electric car except a second-hand electric car. Why did I buy a second-hand car? I did it because there are no subsidies. Yes, it is possible to drive an electric car without a subsidy and without any strings attached. I looked at my needs, and I love this technology. I am a car guy, as those who know me are aware, and I wanted to make choices that, first and foremost, suited my needs.
Unfortunately, electric cars do not meet everyone's need. There are people who might want to drive an electric car, but who have needs that the technology cannot yet meet. We need to accept that reality. However, when the technology meets a person's needs, they are able to drive an electric car, even without a subsidy.
Last year, electric car sales shot through the roof, reaching 20% worldwide, 33% in Europe and 48% in Asia and South America. Electric vehicles sales are on the rise everywhere, except in one place: the Canada of the new Prime Minister's Liberals.
Predictability is important for any industry. The Liberals did everything they could to ruin the EV industry. Think back to January 13, 2025, when former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau abruptly announced that the EV subsidy was ending. A lot of people were claiming it, but predictability is vital and there was none. On the contrary, it was suddenly announced that the subsidy would be ending in three days and nothing more was said about it. As a result, people who were thinking of buying an EV faced a time crunch, and dealers had no idea how to handle the rush. That was the first problem.
Then, in May, two senior ministers, the Minister of Industry and the Minister of the Environment, said not to worry because they would bring back electric vehicle rebates. Is that so? When? One can almost imagine them singing an old folk song about holding out hope for better times ahead and giving the new government time to fix things. The problem is that everyone waited. May, June, July and August passed with no news. September and October passed. Then came November and the budget. Everyone expected there would be something in the budget, but, at the end of the day, there was absolutely nothing. Everyone figured it was over. Let us speak of it no more, thank you, good night.
Then, in January, out of the blue, the Liberals announced that they were bringing back the rebates. How wonderful. Everyone was happy. It was like magic. After a whole year of literally leaving everyone in the automotive system without a clue, here come the Liberals like knights in shining armour championing electric cars.
These people are not to be trusted when it comes to EVs. Canada's record on EVs under the new Prime Minister is the worst. Now the Liberals want us to look at the future from an EV perspective. EVs are obviously part of the future. I am living proof—driving proof, if you will—that people can drive electric cars without rebates or mandates.
Buying electric vehicles from China still raises major security issues. Why buy vehicles from China when we could open up new markets and source vehicles from Europe? Renault sells electric cars that cost about the same as those from China. The government may want to open its eyes and take a fresh look at how it mishandled electric vehicles last year. The government should also be much more open to the European market before turning to China.