Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to our Conservative motion to protect and grow Canada's auto sector. I will be splitting my time with the member for Windsor West.
As the member of Parliament for New Tecumseth—Gwillimbury, I have the honour of representing the workers at the four million square foot Honda Canada manufacturing facility in Alliston, Ontario, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The 4,200 workers at Honda Canada build vehicles for Canadians from all walks of life, including the 2026 Canadian car of the year, the Honda Civic. They are highly skilled, experienced and among the best in the world at what they do.
Each year, they produce more than 400,000 vehicles. They source over $3 billion in parts from Canadian suppliers, supporting roughly 30,000 spinoff jobs across the country. They also give back to their community, supporting charities and local initiatives that make all Canadians' lives better. However, despite all their hard work, they are being let down by a Liberal government that has allowed the production and investment to decline, employment opportunities to disappear and uncertainty to take hold in this pivotal industry.
Since the Liberals first formed government, automotive production in Canada has steadily declined, falling from 2.3 million vehicles in 2016 to 1.2 million vehicles last year. That decline has continued. In the first month of 2026, exports of passenger cars and light trucks have fallen by a whopping 32.5%.
Canadian workers are bearing the impacts. Over the past decade, employment in the production of passenger vehicles and light truck assembly has fallen by thousands. Entire communities have experienced layoffs in major facilities, which has had effects extending beyond the plant floor to suppliers and small businesses that support them.
Investment decisions in the auto sector are increasingly being made outside Canada. Major manufacturers are committing billions of dollars and creating thousands of jobs in other countries, shaping the future of the industry beyond our borders.
When he was first appointed, the Prime Minister promised to protect auto jobs, but in his first year, there have been job losses in the auto sector every month. He said he would move at speeds Canadians had never seen before, but no one expected that meant accelerating job losses.
The Liberal approach to the automotive sector is not really a strategy at all. It is the managed decline of an industry that has been struggling for some time. There is a lot at stake, and there are a lot of issues. For one, it assumes we can shift to producing more electric vehicles and make up for lost access to the U.S. market by selling to Europe, but that does not reflect how the market works. Right now, fewer than 2% of vehicles we export go to Europe, and Europe is putting rules in place to favour vehicles that are built there.
At the same time, U.S. tariffs are adding significant costs for Canadian manufacturers, and the government's credit system does not come close to covering these costs. The result is a plan that leaves our auto sector facing more pressure and more uncertainty, without a clear path forward. Our country needs a plan that will protect our auto jobs here at home and build leverage to achieve tariff-free trade with the United States.
No one has a monopoly on a good idea. As His Majesty's loyal opposition, the Conservatives are promising real solutions in this motion that the government needs to adopt urgently. We need to make it easier for Canadians to buy the vehicles that are built here. Removing the GST on Canadian-made vehicles would help close the gap between what we produce and what Canadians can afford, unlike the Liberal plan, which would send incentives abroad rather than supporting domestic production right here at home.
We also need to tie market access directly to production. Under the Conservative plan, manufacturers who build vehicles in Canada would earn the ability to sell vehicles here duty-free from our North American partners. This creates a clear and immediate incentive to invest in Canadian facilities, Canadian workers and Canadian supply chains. It reflects the reality that this is a continental industry and ensures that Canada remains a central part of it.
The plan would also reinforce the North American supply chain by making more parts and having more work done right here in North America. This would support jobs across the broader economy, including Canadian parts manufacturers, local suppliers and thousands of small and medium-sized businesses that depend on the sector.
I have met with many of those suppliers over the past year. One of them told me a different story of how difficult the Liberal government has made it for them to navigate the red tape around tariffs, remissions, and import and export rules. They are being squeezed from both sides: pressured abroad by Trump and burdened at home by the government. Our plan addresses this so they can focus on production, hiring workers and growing their operations.
Another significant issue with the Liberals' auto strategy is their continued obsession with electric vehicles. Following their disastrous EV mandate that they have finally backed down on, the new version of the mandate is an EV rebate that will give taxpayer money to the wealthy for electric cars that everyday Canadians do not want and cannot afford. It does not support the production of the clean and fuel-efficient vehicles already being produced right here in Canada, including those at Honda.
Instead, our plan would align our emission rules with those of the United States so manufacturers can build for one North American market instead of two separate systems. That lowers costs and supports continued production in Canada, including of hybrids.
We are living through a period of real economic uncertainty. Global conflicts and strained international relationships are putting pressure our economy, but the Liberals' approach to the auto sector is adding to that uncertainty. Their policies leave Canadian manufacturers guessing, and when companies are left guessing, they hold back investment. However, the uncertainty the Liberals are piling on is felt not just in the boardrooms. It is also felt on the plant floors by the workers who do not know if their jobs are secure, and it is felt across entire communities as well, by the people who rely on auto plants to support their family and keep their local economy going.
The motion is about restoring stability to a sector that supports hundreds of thousands of Canadians. It is about giving manufacturers the confidence to build here, invest here and hire here. Conservatives have a plan that reflects how the auto industry actually works, a plan that would support production in Canada, strengthen our place in North America and give workers and families a clearer path forward. The workers I represent at Honda in Alliston, and workers across the country, have proven their ability to compete and succeed every single day. It is time for the Liberal government to support them by voting for our motion.
The Conservative plan would rebuild our industrial base, restore confidence here at home and ensure that Canada remains strong, self-reliant and secure in the world.