Mr. Speaker, I rise today not with an abstract theory but with a testimony, the testimony of men and women who rise before dawn, who punch in, who build, who weld, who assemble and who simply ask only this of their country and its leaders: Stand with them as they stand for their nation.
I speak for the good people of Windsor, Oshawa, Kitchener, Oakville, Ingersoll, Simcoe—Grey, Brampton and New Tecumseth, for all the workers who hold the beating heart of Canada's auto industry in their hands. I speak for communities where a factory is not just a workplace but the spine of the local economy, the anchor of family life and the promise that if we work hard, we can get ahead.
Let us begin with the simple truth. We are told often and with great confidence that this is a new government, but most Canadians are not so easily persuaded. They remember that it is the same Liberal government that has been in power since 2015. The story we are about to tell is a story about the government written over that decade. During this decade, Canadians remember being told the budget will balance itself. They remember a very casual approach to deficits, as though fundamentals and fiscal anchors no longer mattered. Even when concerns were raised, too often the response was, who cares? Workers in Windsor care. Families balancing bills care. Seniors trying to keep body and soul together care. Young Canadians wondering if they will have a future in this country care.
Let us look at the facts for a moment. In 2015, we had roughly 1.5 million manufacturing jobs. Today, after nearly a decade, we have about 1.56 million. This is an increase of roughly 60,000 jobs, which is simply 4% more. Over that same period, Canada's population grew by four million to five million. That is a 10% to 12% increase. We added millions more to our country, but barely added enough jobs in the sector that builds our economy. That is not growth. That is simply more people competing for the same opportunities.
Let us turn to the auto sector, because Windsor does not just participate in this industry; it defines it. In 2016, Canada produced over two million vehicles a year. Today, that number is about 1.2 million, which is a decline of about 35%. Since 2019 alone, production has dropped by about 33%. Meanwhile, the United States is holding steady compared to its prepandemic levels, but Mexico is moving ahead, and Canada, as we know, is falling behind.
The simple truth is that when production falls, jobs follow. Tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs have been lost. Assembly lines are disappearing and part suppliers are under immense pressure. This is not just decline. It is instability and uncertainty. It is workers wondering if they have a job next week, families wondering if the next paycheque is secure and parents wondering if their kids will have to leave the city, province or country to find opportunities.
We have an economy growing at around 1%. In aeronautical terms, it is an economy operating at stall speed, certainly not at the unprecedented speeds promised by the Prime Minister. Countries do not drift into prosperity. They decide it, and we are choosing to go the other way.
There is a deeper concern, one that Canadians increasingly feel, even if it is not always said out loud. It is that the government has lost its way. It does not seem to know what it wants to do. It is pulled in different directions by competing ideas, competing ideologies and competing factions within the party. It seems to have put up a tariff wall of its own against anyone trying to invest here or build in this country.
Instead of de-risking our manufacturing and trade systems, instead of protecting them from shocks, we have added more uncertainty through unpredictable policy, making it harder, not easier, for businesses to plan, invest and grow. The result is no clarity and no direction, but plenty of hesitation. It is a government caught between choices and increasingly frozen into inaction. What we see from it is announcements, press conferences and repackaged ideas, but people are asking where the results are. As we well know, we cannot run an economy on announcements alone. We cannot build an industry on uncertainty. We cannot de-risk a fragile manufacturing base while piling on regulations that choke competition and slow down investment. We certainly cannot lead a country if we are unsure of our own direction.
Sadly, it is the Canadian worker, the Canadian family and the Canadian entrepreneur who are paying the price. People in the manufacturing sector are telling the government the same story. They see policies introduced and then reversed. They see mandates announced and then withdrawn. They see regulations layered on top of regulations without regard for competitiveness. They see barriers within our own country, where free trade between provinces is still a dream rather than a reality. They see labour unable to move freely to where the jobs are, and they ask how they can compete globally when they cannot even compete internally. In their own words, these businesses face gale-force winds of uncertainty and are being blinded by the word salad being spewed by our friends opposite.
When businesses are driving blind, they slow down, they delay investment or they go somewhere else where the conditions are calmer and more predictable or consistent. That is exactly what we are seeing. Even the infrastructure that is meant to support this industry, the very arteries of trade, are delayed. The Gordie Howe International Bridge, so critical to Windsor and our national supply chain, is still not open. We do not know when it will open, and at a time when we should be accelerating trade, we are still waiting.
What is required? It is not reinvention nor slogans, but a return to basics. That is exactly what the proposal from His Majesty's loyal opposition represents. It begins with an idea so simple, so grounded, that it resonates beyond politics. If we want to sell cars in Canada, we should be building cars in Canada. It is a modern auto pact, not a nostalgic hearkening to a bygone era, and it is practical and modern in its application. Simply put, if companies build here, they get to sell here duty-free. If they invest in this country, they see a return on their investment.
We would tie local production to local market access. We would reward work done here in this country. We would remove GST on Canadian-made vehicles and support Canadian auto workers directly. We would align regulations with the United States and remove barriers that drive investment away. We would secure access to the U.S. market and compete where it matters most, and we would focus on building the infrastructure, the connectivity and the internal trade corridors that would actually grow GDP, not just talk about it.
Here is a reality check: Our integrated supply chains are with our North American neighbours, not European or Asian neighbours. The question we have to answer is not whether we engage, but whether we do so strategically.
There will always be debate and there will always be concern, but we must measure any approach against facts. The current path delivered a 35% drop in production, a decade of stagnation and an economy at snail speed. At some point, we must move beyond defending the status quo and start changing it. The simple truth is that if we make it easier to build somewhere else, companies will build somewhere else. If we make it harder to build in Canada, investment will leave Canada. That is not ideology; that is reality. If we ignore this simple reality, we will lose more jobs, we will lose capacity and we will lose skills. Once the skills and talent are gone, they will not come back.
This is not about left or right. It is about whether Canada still believes in building things, whether we still believe in our workers, in our industry and in creating opportunities for a better future, or whether we accept a timid future, a future of steady decline dressed up as progress. If we continue on this path, we already know where it leads. It leads to more stagnation, more uncertainty, more loss and eventually more despair. In other words, it is managed decline leading to a permanent loss.
The people of Windsor and across southwestern Ontario and Quebec are not asking for perfection. They are asking for leadership. Let us give it to them. Let us stand up for production. Let us stand for workers in Canada. Let us stand for Canada.