Environment committee  Absolutely. I really couldn't agree more. The strategic position we're in, just to build on the comments I started with, is quite remarkable. As other panellists have talked about, we're rich in emissions-free energy, and at the same time we're rich in the resources that are in high demand for these products.

Environment committee  Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Chair and members of the committee. It's a pleasure to have been invited to speak with you today and to be presenting alongside my distinguished panellists. I am Angelo DiCaro, the national director of research for Unifor. We are Canada's largest labour union in the private sector.

International Trade committee  The consequences are not clear about what the disparity between the steel and aluminum provisions are in NAFTA. One thing that is important to put in perspective—although I'm not going to diminish it—is that the aluminum industry, for instance, is a very big industry in Canada, especially in B.C. and Quebec.

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  Oh, I'm sorry. We'll talk after.

International Trade committee  I'd say that the fact that this deal is going to get done is probably as much certainty as people have had in the last three years of this roller coaster. In a way, then, it becomes a good thing. Many big investment decisions have been on pause, with people waiting to find out what these final rules are going to look like.

International Trade committee  I wouldn't go so far as to talk about parity of certain auto rights, but on the other pieces you're absolutely right. We've been talking a lot about the auto rules as they relate to labour, talking a little about the Mexican annex that was negotiated to deal with the issues that Hector raised on protection contracts and all that, but the chapter itself is fundamentally different in a lot of areas from what we had in the previous NAFTA.

International Trade committee  I can make a few comments, and then Hector can fill in. I feel odd giving you this answer with Hector listening in. I don't know that anybody is holding their breath. In my remarks, I referred to the language of the text of the agreement as being somehow like the magic wand that's going to fix these problems.

International Trade committee  I agree with Hector. We've been consistent in understanding what that $16 provision will be. I also want to clarify, so folks aren't left with a misunderstanding. Despite the fact that it signifies in the text of the agreement that this is a minimum wage of $16 U.S. per hour, that is not what is being promoted in the new agreement.

International Trade committee  I think I answered the second part of your question. Again, there's no tracking mechanism that I'm aware of. As the regulations come out, these are questions that need to be asked as those are drafted. In terms of Mr. Kingston's comments, I do agree that there's a lot more to this new package of rules of origin.

International Trade committee  Thanks for that question. It's an excellent question. I'll tell you that one piece of this is that the 40% applies to light cars. The 45% of this new labour value content applies to trucks. There are two different conditions. Mechanisms in the current language of the agreement allow parties to whittle that down to as low as 25% labour value content.

International Trade committee  Please, I'll explain. When we were first invited, we also asked if Hector could join us and split our time. That's what we've decided to do. We'll do five minutes and five minutes, and that will make up Unifor's time. I only learned about the extra 10 minutes today, so it was too late to fill in the blanks on the comments.