Finance committee  Those are great questions. First of all, let me deal with transit. There are mass layoffs announced in some of the major cities in Canada as a result of COVID-19. As a result of COVID-19, the buses are not fully utilized, obviously, because of social distancing, revenue has dropped dramatically and, in many circumstances, no fares at all are being collected.

Finance committee  One of the first things that many provincial governments have done—the Ford government and the Jason Kenney government—was to eliminate a lot of the labour law reforms that were implemented, which included paid sick days. I think they're both probably feeling pretty foolish today for doing that, because there is no question that what we have done by not giving our workers sick leave is that we're forcing them to go to work sick, which is of course making other people sick.

Finance committee  The solution is that they not deem SUB payments earnings in order to be eligible for CERB. You treat the SUB and CERB in exactly the same way as you would if the person were receiving employment insurance. After all, the CERB was just a quicker way to get to employment insurance because the EI system was crashing.

Finance committee  I will.

Finance committee  I think the finance department cut your Internet.

Finance committee  First of all, the government is saying that if you receive a supplemental unemployment benefit, then it's not eligible under CERB. For auto workers, for example, I have 50,000 members who have SUB top-ups in case of unemployment, including workers who work for the federal government.

Finance committee  Absolutely.

Finance committee  Thank you. My name is Jerry Dias, and I'm here on behalf of Unifor, Canada's largest labour union in the private sector. I appreciate having the opportunity to speak with you today. Look, we're living in extraordinary times. A public health crisis that has already claimed the lives of 6,000 people in Canada has spiralled into a deep and painful economic slowdown.

International Trade committee  First of all, it would be devastating to the entire industry. There's not an assembly plant in Canada that will survive a 25% tariff, because almost everything we build goes to the United States. There's no way we can say that the effect will be marginal, because just the opposite will be true.

International Trade committee  There is no question that we need it. We need to make sure that we find a mechanism for the jobs that we currently have within the key industries to stay. For example, we'll take a look at the auto industry. We're going to have to make some different decisions because the overwhelming majority of the steel that goes into Canadian assembled vehicles comes from the United States.

International Trade committee  I can hear you just fine. Thank you.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much. It's an honour to work with Steve and Chrystia as we're trying to fix NAFTA. My name is Jerry Dias and I am the national president of Unifor, Canada's largest union in the private sector. With me is Angelo DiCaro, the acting director of our research department and our lead policy analyst on international trade.

Finance committee  I do not agree with tax havens at all. I mean, take a look at the Panama Papers and follow that whole stream. I paid $53,000 in taxes last year. I don't quarrel with that at all. I'm not looking for a mechanism with which to reduce it. I enjoy the social programs here, as does every other Canadian.

Finance committee  The answer is yes. The bottom line is that we have a structure in place where doctors, based on a tax loophole, pay less than registered nurses.

Finance committee  But I am. I did.