Statement made on 29 April 2009 by Senator Jerahmiel Grafstein (retired)
Hon. Jerahmiel S. Grafstein:
Honourable senators, the Leader of the Government in the Senate will recall that some months ago I raised the question of protectionism in the stimulus package in the United States and that, as a result of the package and the identification in the auto provisions, money in the United States will go only to cars made in the United States, not North America.
I have another important question for the Leader of the Government in the Senate due to her response to Senator Milne. We have heard in recent days that General Motors intends to chop its workforce in Canada materially from about a quarter of a million to around 40,000. I am not entirely clear on these figures, but the reduction is substantial. The same is true for Chrysler; I am not sure what the numbers are for Ford.
My question is not complicated. As a result of the provisions in the American stimulus package directed to auto making in America and the apparent restriction in the preamble that refers to cars made in the U.S., is Canada being penalized, in effect? Are Canadian subsidiaries of those two American companies being penalized so that a greater proportion of the job loss takes place in Canada rather than in the United States relative to our share of the North American marketplace?
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