Human Resources committee  Yes. Most of our companies that we talk to do qualify. Their production was down 30% to 40%, and their sales were down so much. I'm not sure about other sectors of the economy, but 30% a “revenue cliff” that I and others have called it is a substantial problem that probably should be softened.

Human Resources committee  It's a huge issue. We use a lot of the same equipment in manufacturing that hospitals use. The N95 mask is a good example, and also various types of face shields and other things. In some cases, they don't have to be medical quality, and so they can be a little easier to obtain, but it's still a huge problem across the board.

Human Resources committee  I apologize; it was hard to hear everything that was coming through. I will do my best to answer your question. I think what I understand from the question, though, is what type of transition do we need? How do we look longer term if we're not expecting a full recovery—economic recovery, manufacturing recovery—for almost two years?

Human Resources committee  Again, I apologize if this isn't the full answer. I would say there are two parts to this answer. One is that technology and innovation are rapidly changing how manufacturers operate. You understand that, as do most members of the committee. Our workforce, in a lot of ways, is not keeping up with that.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely. I'll just clarify the numbers. About 85% of companies said that they fully supported the government action across the board on all the measures they've taken, and that's federal and provincial. About 55% of our members said that they used the wage subsidy program, which is a substantial number of companies, so it has broad use in the manufacturing sector.

Human Resources committee  The government has undertake some short-term measures to try to stand up domestic supply chains, leveraging investment support programs, for example, to help companies retool and scale up production of PPE, but those are really short-term measures to deal with the short-term critical nature of the supply.

Human Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for inviting me to participate in today's discussion. It is my pleasure to be here on behalf of Canada's 90,000 manufacturers and exporters, and our association's 2,500 direct members to discuss COVID-19 in Canada's manufacturing sector. Today, I will stress the importance of the existing wage subsidy program, the need for expanded programs to support the full restart of industry, and the requirement for a national manufacturing strategy that contains a skills component.

International Trade committee  Yes, we should sign it as quickly as possible and show a leadership that has been mentioned here before. In terms of the other trade agreements, they're different. In many cases, we're sending finished goods to those other markets. We're not sending manufactured products. What I mean by that is we're not sending auto parts to Europe.

International Trade committee  It should be going back to the people who paid it, for example, the steel producers and the people who are making the steel. That's where it was supposed to go in the first place, to help them invest in technology and production capacity.

International Trade committee  The WTO bound rates for tariffs really aren't that high, so you'll hear about the impact being very minimal. I heard it out of Global Affairs when NAFTA was first being renegotiated, to not worry, that it's a small amount, 1.5% on average or something like that. That's not the problem.

International Trade committee  What we hear a lot about is unfair trade with the United States. I think we've done a decent job—and we can always do better—at talking about how Canada is not that. It's very different in Canada—and Mexico, in the same way—from what their trade relationship is with Vietnam, China, Brazil, Russia, eastern Europe or anywhere else.

International Trade committee  Well, I'll maybe start with where you ended. If steel was the appetizer, I think auto would have been the full course. It would have sunk us, frankly, if that had been put in place. That's why those side agreements that were signed back in the fall were so critical: to make sure that we were exempted from it.

International Trade committee  Well, I think it brought it to the attention of lawmakers in the United States, particularly those who have influence in different sectors. I think it was good. If you don't retaliate.... Look, we weren't in favour of slapping tariffs on American imports to Canada, but at the same time, we were in favour of retaliation, for the same reason that we're in favour of Canada slapping on restrictions of U.S. exports into government procurement markets: because we can't get into their markets.

International Trade committee  Maybe I'll just mention, on the buy American government procurement, that was, I think, the biggest missed opportunity in this—and not to be critical. Frankly, the offer from the United States was to eliminate all of it and be backwards from even the WTO commitments that are there, so we secured access that was better than the WTO commitments.

International Trade committee  First off—and we were talking about this before the committee started—last year was a record year for output for manufacturing in the country and for value-added exports, which is great news. As we discussed, the challenge is that we're still not clicking on all cylinders. We're behind what the U.S. is doing, for example, and a lot of that comes down to investment.