Mr. Speaker, the member says we should stop losing jobs. Do my colleagues know that the worst year we had for the loss of manufacturing jobs was under Stephen Harper? The leader of the Conservative Party sat around that caucus. That was the worst loss we ever had in the manufacturing industry, so when they start talking about the loss of jobs, they need to take a look at who their leader was in the caucus during the Harper government years.
However, let us continue to look forward, as opposed to backwards with the 1965 auto pact, because it matters. Members can think of the communities of Oshawa, Brampton, Oakville, Cambridge, Woodstock, Ingersoll, Windsor, Alliston and St. Thomas. They are the communities in Ontario that are looking for a government that will provide leadership on the issue.
Thank goodness that, much like we had Lester Pearson during the sixties, we now have a Prime Minister who understands the economy and how the economy works. He is in a good position to be able to negotiate a trade agreement with the President of the United States. He is the right Prime Minister for the right time in Canada's history to ensure that we have an industry that is able to not only survive, but also prosper into the future. That is something, I believe, that is shown by the actions we have taken, whether looking for those trade opportunities in South Korea, Japan, China or other allied countries in Europe. It might take some real effort going forward to foster those relationships, to build and to court some of those manufacturing companies to come to Canada.
No one is saying it is going to be easy, but as a government, we are not, like the Conservatives, giving up on workers or giving up on bringing forward a plan. I can tell the House that, after listening to the speeches of the vast majority, more than 90%, of the Conservative caucus, we would think that they do not want an EV industry. That is the reality, because they are constantly being critical of the government for anything that we do to promote EV purchases, as an example. Show me one Conservative member who will actually put up their hand and say, yes, it is a good thing to be able to encourage Canadians to purchase an EV vehicle through a subsidy of some form.
I have a news flash. The federal government is not the only government that has actually provided subsidies for EV vehicles. One of the provinces that has led the way is the province of Quebec. Quebec has provided opportunities and incentives for consumers to purchase EV vehicles. Quebec is not the only province. Colleagues can do their Google searches or whatever types of searches they want and they will find different political parties and different levels of government that have actually had incentives to try to provide encouragement for people to actually purchase EV vehicles.
The United States produces a lot of electric vehicles, but Canada cannot produce every model of car throughout the world. We cannot do that.
As much as I might like to see something of that nature take place, I think we need to recognize that Canada's automobile industry, what we currently have, has fantastic potential and there is room for growth. If anyone wants a good example of that, look at the Charger. It is an electric vehicle. Are you trying to minimize that now? Are you trying to minimize the Chrysler Stellantis plant by—