Finance committee  I will say hi to Justin for you.

Finance committee  Whether or not he's in a good listening mood, he will listen today.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Easter. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I’m pleased to be here today to provide input on the budget implementation bill. My name is Jerry Dias, and I'm the national president of Unifor. Just as an aside, it's always my pleasure to appear before many MPs I have had some stimulating debates and conversations with over the years.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  That's a heck of a question. The 4% that Canada had won in 2015 was of the contracts that were awarded outside the U.S. It was $700 million, period, which is two-fifths of nothing. We've never had this huge amount of money that was ever really sourced for federal contracts. The way the U.S. works—and you know this—is that the majority of the money goes from the federal government to the states, and so the WTO rules don't kick in as they relate to the individual states' procurements.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  No problem.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  There's no question. You've taken a proper position, not only on manufacturing, but also on a variety of other pieces in the food chain. Think about the pandemic. Talk about a nation that was completely unprepared. We couldn't even keep our own citizens safe. We had no way of providing vaccines.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  You're right, and there are two pieces to this conversation. There's the free flow of parts across the border. On the automotive industry, you're right, and Ken talked about it with the steel industry. There are parts that cross the border five or six times before they get assembled in a vehicle, so that can't change.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Sean is right. The key piece for us is where we find the sweet spot with the U.S. Where do we find the areas of commonality? We're talking about Canada being a leader in low-carbon building materials, and Sean is right, whether we're talking about cement, timber, aluminum and steel.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Coming out of 2009, we had the Obama administration at that time in the U.S. and it was the recovery act. This isn't new to us by the way. The whole issue of buy American provisions is not new; we've been dealing with this historically for generations, frankly. In Canada, we fought for exemptions and I think we got exemptions in about 37 states that allowed Canada to bid on their procurement, but ultimately what Canada gave up at that time was the opportunity for U.S companies to bid on all of the federal and provincial procurement opportunities.

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Thank you very much. Good evening, honourable Chair and members of the committee. My name is Jerry Dias, and I'm the national president of Unifor. I represent over 315,000 working people across the country in nearly every industrial sector. I'm joined by Unifor's national research director, Angelo DiCaro.

Industry committee  There's no question that these are highly skilled, well-paid, working-class jobs that provide employee benefits at the top of the food chain. They're consistent with the top manufacturing jobs in this country and the most technical jobs in this country. The wages and benefits reflect the contribution and the type of industry they're in.

Industry committee  I have to admit it was a lot easier when Air Canada was owned by the federal government. The procurement discussions and decisions were a lot easier. I've spent a lot of time defending the government's contributions to the aerospace industry. Why? It's a pretty simple math equation to me.

Industry committee  Thank you.

Industry committee  If you look at the history of the aerospace sector in Canada, Canadians have always been at the leading edge of technology as it relates to manufacturing not just commercial aircraft but space and military aircraft. At one time, we were number four in the world in manufacturing.

Industry committee  Thank you for the invitation to provide input into this important study on development and support for Canada's aerospace industry. With me today is Renaud Gagné, Unifor Quebec director. As you are well aware, the aerospace industry is incredibly important to the economic success of our country.