Mr. Speaker, this is the devastating reality for the workers, their families and the entire city of Oshawa. It is very clear that this is a failure of the obligation that is owed to the working people of the country.
Last week, the Liberal government gave corporations like General Motors a $14 billion giveaway, because, as the government said, it would guarantee that jobs would remain in Canada. However, today, while GM stakeholders and shareholders got a bump of 7% on their profits, more than 5,000 Canadian families may be affected by these layoffs. This should never happen. We cannot afford billions in tax giveaways to the most profitable companies when those same companies are pulling up stake, leaving people out of work and leaving families devastated.
London, Ontario is an example of this kind of behaviour from corporations. We have lived it for a number of years. We lost Siemens, which provided good jobs, but it is gone. We had Ford at Talbotville and it is gone. Most recent, despite the Conservatives giving Caterpillar $5 million, it left, not because the workers did not produce a world-class product but because it had no commitment to the community. It was profitable and it was doing very well. In fact, the investments and the benefits that it gleaned were because of the quality of the workers in our community. However, when these companies left, people and families were abandoned.
There should be government investment. We hear a great deal about the various investments that have been put in place by the Liberal government and by the Conservative government before it. However, these investments must have strings attached. There can be no open season. There must be requirements and commitments by these companies to stay and to continue to be part of the community. It was the community that made them profitable.
The NDP has been calling for investments that would make Canada a leader in clean energy jobs. It is important to note that successive governments, both Liberal and Conservative, have dismissed this call for a plan. Today we are reaping the results of that. We are seeing the manifestation of failing to have a plan. Part of that plan is a national auto strategy.
Members will recall that the MPs for Essex, Windsor West and Windsor—Tecumseh have been very clear in asking for a national auto strategy. In fact, the member for Windsor West tabled a petition, with 9,000 signatures from his community, asking for this plan. If we had a cohesive, well-thought-out strategy, it would attract investment, support research and engineering, support innovation and sustain good jobs.
This lack of a national strategy has cost Canadians some crucial jobs, jobs that would place us in the lead in regard to efforts to create electric hybrid cars and a green economy. It would be the kind of sustainable economy that would alleviate the environmental and climate change crisis we all face. It would be a strategy that would begin by convening an auto summit with provincial, municipal, industry leaders and labour, and labour is constantly forgotten in this scenario, to develop a consensus for that important national automotive strategy.
This is not new. This is something that I first heard from Jack Layton in 2003, when he unveiled the proposal for a program to create 40,000 new sustainable jobs. He talked about the auto industry and how we could become part of that new green non-polluting future. It would go a long way, not just with respect to jobs but in the elimination of greenhouse gases.
The investment would require commitments, as I said, long-term commitments from automakers like GM to continue to support Canadian jobs well into the future. GM is saying that that ship has sailed and there is nothing we can do but accept that this is a done deal. The Liberal government must explore options to encourage GM to reverse this decision, including targeted investment that would ensure these workers can continue to build quality vehicles, the vehicles Canadians need now and in the future, investment that makes demands for commitments from the company.
New Democrats stand with the workers and their families in Oshawa and with workers throughout the country. We will continue to push the Liberal government to implement the needed changes to protect our industries. We have been calling for investments to make Canada a leader in clean energy jobs, and again we are back to a national auto strategy as part of the future. It is also absolutely essential we explore these sectoral investments.
Whatever we do, we must avoid the mistakes of the past. By that, I am referring to 2009 when the Canadian and Ontario governments lent GM $10.85 billion. It was $7.23 billion federally and $3.62 billion provincially. That amounts to $474,000 per GM employee. The governments received stocks. They were able to retain stocks as part of the agreement, but they sold those stocks in 2015. That was a mistake because those shares were leverage. They were part of what we held in keeping General Motors accountable, but they were sold. The result of that sell-off is the public lost $3.5 billion to General Motors due to the bailout. In 2014, the Auditor General found that Industry Canada had no documentation of how GM used more than $528 million of those funds. Imagine that: governments which give away money to corporations but there is no accounting and no accountability. It is not acceptable.
In October, Export Development Canada showed a $1-billion outstanding loan to General Motors Corporation. Apparently, that $1 billion is going to be written off. Just this summer, the member for Windsor West was asking, in light of the Trump auto tariffs, what we were doing to make sure we had a predictable strategy since we are dealing with a very unpredictable U.S. President. Part of that strategy is to address tariffs. Has the Liberal government addressed the issue of the steel and aluminum tariffs? It is quite prepared to sign the USMCA, but has it made it very clear that there will be no signature until those auto tariffs and steel and aluminum tariffs are addressed?
We need a government that will step in and do what it takes to keep these jobs in Canada and in place in Oshawa. We are calling on the Liberal government once again to protect workers, to implement a national auto strategy and to look at the trade deals which have been put in place and make sure we have not given up too much and that we have protected employment, workers and labour in this country.
Two weeks ago, the government bragged about how the USMCA, which it is still planning to sign, would protect the auto sector. Well, apparently it will not. A week ago, the economic update gave $14 billion to corporations like General Motors to guarantee jobs in Canada. Clearly, these giveaways have not worked. They have not achieved what the government said they would.
Therefore, let us get to work. Let us make sure there is a transition, like my colleague suggested, which involves the city, the union, the province and the federal government. Let us make sure that these workers will get their pensions, that GM will live up to all of its pension obligations. Let us make sure that severance is in place. Let us make sure that the company is required to do the environmental remediation of its sites to allow other industries to go in. The company should not get off scot-free. It should be held responsible for what it is doing. It should be held responsible for this behaviour.
We are on the side of those who work in Oshawa, and we are prepared to fight for them.
