Industry committee  Mr. Arthur, yes, I compared us with a country that was throwing people from planes. And I compared that because I was one of those.... I spent three years in jail in that country, and I'm here as a political refugee. This country saved my life. When I talk about that country, I know what I'm talking about, and I would appreciate it, when you talk, that you have a bit more sensitivity to the people you're talking to and about how you mention things.

Industry committee  Also in answer to Mr. Lapierre, we support sectoral industrial strategies. We are working with employers in the steel sector and with the federal and provincial governments in the steel partnership sector council. We support that kind of strategy, like the automobile sector council, working together in partnership with provincial governments and employers to support the maintenance and development of new jobs and opportunities in the manufacturing sector.

Industry committee  There are a couple of things. There is this myth that workers and manufacturers in Canada are not productive. Just plain numbers will show that is not true. We've lost 250,000 jobs in the last two years and we didn't lose $1 in shipment in manufacturing. That means this country is producing at the same level as in the past without investment in new equipment, new plants, or skilled training, and with 250,000 fewer workers.

Industry committee  For the Canadian worker.

Industry committee  On what we are doing to stop the loss of jobs in manufacturing, we are first doing a presentation to you, and hopefully you will do something.

Industry committee  We don't have a productivity problem.

Industry committee  The World Economic Forum report on global competitiveness put Canada at number 27 over 58 countries in unique products and processes, meaning we won't be able to compete in things that are originally from Canada. Research and development in Canada is quite important. We think that instead of general tax cuts, there will have to be tax incentives for research and development as well as implementation of those new processes and products from the shop floor.

Industry committee  In our case, we represent workers in steel and manufacturing and we represent workers in auto parts. It's quite clear that cars that are coming into Canada, made in Korea, will affect our members, because they have not been able to produce the auto parts or the steel needed to make cars in Canada.

Industry committee  It's exactly the contrary. During the time of crisis, the Argentinian currency was of high value. It was one to one with the Canadian dollar, and that was what destroyed the whole industrial base, to the point that after the crisis, just to start re-engaging the economy, they had to move the Argentinian currency to three pesos for one dollar, meaning the value of the Argentinian currency was reduced by 66%.

Industry committee  I have a couple of examples. The softwood lumber deal was presented. One of the characteristics of that deal is an incentive to export logs out of Canada, instead of manufacturing, making paper, furniture. The softwood lumber had not yet been implemented. Northern Quebec and Ontario were seeing mills closing one after another.

Industry committee  Thank you. I'm looking at my own union and the experience twenty years ago during the previous crisis in the steel sector. At that point, the union and the industry created the CSTEC bipartite organization to discuss the need for retraining for unemployed and employed workers.

Industry committee  Thank you for this opportunity. I will divide my presentation into two parts: one, general context; two, the challenges we see as a union facing manufacturing and the solutions and ideas we have about how to deal with these challenges. Let me start by sharing what Lina said. We think there is a crisis in the manufacturing sector.