FOR GENERATIONS, MILLIONS OF Canadian families have been supported by good jobs in the automotive and parts industries. Those good jobs have helped to build many of our communities. And, today, we need to protect and keep those jobs – while attracting the next generation of automotive manufacturing to
Canadian communities.
Workers should never, ever feel abandoned by their government. But that’s exactly what many autoworkers and their families feel today. And it’s the result of the choices made by Liberal and Conservative governments.
For years, New Democrats, labour unions and automakers have pressured successive Liberal and Conservative governments for a National Auto Strategy to support Canada’s direct assembly and supply chain automotive economy. This is urgent now more than ever, as we see the devastation caused by the closure of the General Motors Oshawa Car Assembly plant and layoffs at the Chrysler-Fiat plant in Windsor.
But instead of acting, this Liberal government has given up on the auto sector. They cancelled the Automotive Investment Fund and sat on recommendations to protect jobs from Canada’s “auto czar”, dragging their feet for the last four years while thousands of Canadians lost their jobs.
The auto sector, and the workers and communities that depend on it, matter – and New Democrats will always fight for them. A New Democrat government will urgently convene an auto summit with provincial, municipal, industry and labour leaders to develop a consensus on a National Automotive Strategy to attract and retain jobs and investment. This strategy will make sure that Canadian product lines and manufacturing processes are adapted to meet changing consumer needs and evolving realities in the manufacturing industry – while protecting workers for the long term.
We will also restore the Automotive Innovation Fund and make contributions to automakers tax-free to help secure next generation production capacity. And we will commission an independent study into the causes and consequences of the trade deficit in automotive products with Mexico, along with potential strategies for reducing it.
Because of the lack of vision and action by Liberal and Conservative governments, Canada is lagging behind many countries when it comes to building the vehicles of the future, when we should be a leader in driverless technology, hybrid and electric vehicles. It’s time to catch up and get ahead.
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New Democrats will help Canadian industry lead in the development and manufacturing of the vehicles of tomorrow. We’ll work with labour and industry to make sure that Canadian workers have the skills they need to benefit from the adoption of these new technologies – and drive demand by ensuring that federal incentives for zero-emissions automobiles prioritize made-in-Canada vehicles. Buying Canadian-made zero- emissions cars for government fleets will help us lead by example on sustainability, while creating good jobs here at home.
Finally, in a manner consistent with its arms-length commercial status, a New Democrat government will give Export Development Canada a stronger mandate to recruit and retain investment in
automotive plants and export-focused manufacturing here in Canada.
FIGHTING FOR GOOD MANUFACTURING JOBS
5 De Bono, Norman. “Liberal leader Justin Trudeau says Southwestern Ontario must move away from manufacturing,” London Free Press, January 21, 2015. Available online at: https://lfpress.com/2015/01/20/liberal-leader-justin-trudeau-says-southwestern-ontario-must-move-away-from-manu-facturing/wcm/d07b58fe-049e-5054-cf8f-4f72390e108b
MANUFACTURING HELPED TO BUILD Canada. And manufacturing jobs should continue to build Canada’s future.
Unfortunately, successive Liberal and Conservative government have ignored Canada’s manufacturing base, leading to the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs over the last two decades. Justin Trudeau has given up on manufacturing. He has even said that the Liberal government is
“transitioning away from manufacturing based employment”5.
New Democrats know that this sector and these jobs are vital for so many communities across the country. We are committed to fighting for a strong and robust future for Canadian manufacturing.
A New Democrat government will bring together all levels of government, together with business and labour leaders, to develop a national industrial strategy to build an advanced low carbon manufacturing economy in Canada that will provide good middle-class jobs to Canadian workers. We will also take measures to grow the domestic market for Canadian manufactured goods, and provide strategic supports to our long-neglected steel and aluminum industries to attract and retain jobs and investments in communities across the country.
When the Liberal government signed a new trade deal with the United States that contained damaging steel and aluminum tariffs, New Democrats fought alongside labour and the industry get the tariffs permanently removed – and won. But there is still much work to be done to protect Canadian jobs against the risk that the U.S.
could impose new tariffs. For New Democrats, no tariffs against our steel or aluminum will ever be acceptable. That’s why we will adopt measures to stabilize the Canadian steel market, and protect the sector from predatory practices of foreign producers who are shut out of other markets.
Liberal and Conservative governments have failed to use Canadian government infrastructure procurement to support Canada’s manufacturing economy, and have often negotiated trade deals that put domestic procurement policies at risk. New Democrats will require the use of Canadian-made steel and aluminum for infrastructure projects across the country.
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