Industry committee  I think that's right and it's certainly mistaken to think that the problems affecting manufacturing are not affecting other sectors of the economy. As the United Way report in Toronto pointed out, one of the reasons for the growing rate of impoverishment in Toronto is the disappe

Industry committee  I think that's right. The impact of this recent surge of the dollar has yet to be felt, and we'll see further job losses and closures. Moving forward, I think the next six to eight months are going to be critical. I'm unfortunately expecting probably as many as 50,000 job losses

Industry committee  I think the fact that the industry committee has come together as a whole shows how important these issues are, how urgent they are, and how we can work together for solutions. I agree with Mr. Lazar we have to realize that at the end of the day it's up to business to make the in

Industry committee  We have much more difficulty convincing economists in the Department of Finance about this.

Industry committee  I don't think we have too much of a problem convincing people who live in communities that depend on manufacturing how important manufacturing is for those communities. In some other communities, and in larger urban centres where the contribution that manufacturing makes is not t

Industry committee  To your first point, Mr. McTeague, the situation is urgent, and we have been calling on the government to implement all the recommendations in the report. I think they were all extremely good, from the tax recommendations to the issues of ensuring fair trade, borders, logistics--

Industry committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen. I've distributed a deck to members of the committee. You'll be glad to know I'm not going to go slide by slide; however, it does point out the impact of the appreciating Canadian dollar on Canada's manufacturing sector. This

Finance committee  I was wrong.

Finance committee  Right now, with cashflow under pressure, the most important thing companies can do is improve their operating efficiency so they have money to reinvest in new equipment and in training and in innovation. So we've been working very closely with manufacturers, implementing operatio

Finance committee  I think in the long term the industrial base we will have and the businesses we will have at a dollar that's at par, or $1.10 or $1.20, are going to have to be of much higher value, much more specialized, much faster, much more customized--all of that. That's extremely important.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  We're very supportive of that and have been advocating that policy measure with all the provincial governments--Ontario west--whose sales taxes are not harmonized. I think it's a very important measure, and certainly we are urging it at the provincial government level and bringin

Finance committee  I think the lower corporate tax rates are extremely important in making sure that Canada is an attractive location for global investment. That's an essential thing to do, but the point is with other jurisdictions around the world taking some very active measures to encourage inve

Finance committee  Certainly the fluctuation in the exchange rate, the volatility of the exchange rate, and the rapid appreciation of the exchange rate are very difficult problems to manage. It's not the fact that the dollar is at par or is at $1.10--companies can adjust to that--but it's that rapi

Finance committee  I think the bank should reduce interest rates, but there should be absolutely no government intervention.