Kyle Seeback
Dufferin—Caledon, Ontario · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the family of Constable Tarun Bali, who passed away tragically in the line of duty in northern Ontario. Constable Bali was a member of the Dufferin OPP in my home riding of Dufferin—Caledon. I know the men and women who serve in the Dufferin OPP.”
“Mr. Speaker, this is the 11th time the Liberals have announced they are going to make food cheaper for Canadians. Forgive me if I do not believe a single word that these guys say.”
“Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first petition is with respect to a young man from Bolton, Ontario, Gabriel Arshad, who was critically injured on July 5, 2025 in a devastating four-vehicle collision.”
“Mr. Speaker, luxury Normandy butter cups, beef tenderloin, braised beef with wine reduction and crème brûlée were included in 95,000 dollars' worth of luxury meals on one flight, $1 million in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, a quarter of Canadians are food-insecure.”
“It is really unbelievable, Mr. Speaker. Every week, they stand in the House of Commons and brag about the fact that for the first time in Canadian history, a government has to send money to Canadians so they can buy groceries. Let us think about that for a minute. That is the country they have created in Canada.”
“Mr. Speaker, every month, there is a new report that shows how difficult life has become under the Liberal government. Last night, it was a damning report from Food Banks Canada, and this month we have a report from United Way that says 60% of Canadians now have anxiety just thinking about their finances.”
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“Mr. Speaker, if we were to listen to the Liberals, we would think that Canada is going through some kind of an economic boom. The reality is so far from that truth, as 43% of Canadians are now saying that they are within $200 of not being able to make ends meet. This is despite all of the programs they continuously announce and reannounce. This is despite doubling the deficit. When will the Liberals realize that, whatever medicine they are trying to give to fix the Canadian economy, it is not working?”
“Mr. Speaker, when we all rise in this place to speak, we hope that we are going to be accurate. The member speaks a lot, but I think he hopes to be accurate as well. He read into the record that the Conservative plan does not include, for example, engines. That is patently false. If he took the time to read the plan, he would know the plan talks about vehicles and vehicle equivalents, which includes engines, transmissions and chassis. For him to suggest that this is not true is inaccurate. First, I wonder if he is embarrassed by reading something into the record that is inaccurate. Second, would he not agree that the most critical thing for the Canadian auto industry is tariff-free access into the American market? It is where 800,000 of the vehicles we produce go.”
“Mr. Speaker, the industry minister has said some strange things, like we are going to build the cars the world wants and export them. For question number one, I wonder if the Leader of the Opposition has any idea which markets the industry minister might be talking about that we would export these fantasy cars to. For question number two, the Liberals talk about bringing investment into Canada with new manufacturing facilities. Can the Leader of the Opposition think of any auto manufacturer that would come and do new production in Canada while there are still 25% tariffs on all autos sent to the United States?”
“Mr. Speaker, it is actually shocking how uninformed the industry minister is when it comes to the auto strategy. They announced their auto strategy, and auto exports, since they announced it, are down 32%. This is a decimation. The reason this is happening is that there are tariffs on our autos at about 15%. The Liberals have been completely incapable of removing the tariffs. They have no plan to remove the tariffs. All they do is talk about something that might happen. We have a plan that has been endorsed by the president of GM's Oshawa assembly plant and the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association. Why do they not get on board with the tariff-free auto pact?”
“Mr. Speaker, let us talk about some auto facts. A decade ago before the Liberals took office, Canadian auto producers produced two million vehicles a year. After a decade of Liberal incompetence, that went down to 1.2 million. Now it gets worse, unfortunately, because since the new Prime Minister has taken office, auto exports are down a further 54%. It is a decimation. We have lost the Brampton plant. We have lost Paccar. We have lost the BrightDrop facility. We have lost the third shift at Oshawa. This is all since the Liberals announced their so-called new auto policy. When will they realized it is garbage and move to our tariff-free auto pact?”
“Mr. Speaker, there was so much incoherence and drivel in that speech that I do not know where to start. I will start with this: Is it really the Liberal government's position that the United States wants no trade? Is that what the member thinks its position is? If the U.S. wants no trade, we understand why the Liberals are getting no deal on trade, if that is what they think the position is. Second, the member talked about the future as electrification and said that when we get to 25%, it is some kind of curve. That explains what the Liberals' EV policy is. However, 49,000 Chinese EVs are 30% of the EV market in Canada. I guess the Liberals' plan to create good jobs in the auto sector is to create good jobs in China for Chinese EVs, because let us be clear, the only EV we manufactured in Canada was a Dodge Charger 700.”
“Mr. Speaker, I thought that was a fantastic speech by my colleague. What we continue to hear from the Liberals during this debate is our plan does not make sense, or this, that and the other thing, but we have actually seen no plan from them. We have seen production go from two million vehicles a year to 1.2 million, and then they talk about these programs, yet exports of autos are down 55% over the past year. I cannot figure out what the Liberals' plan is. Canadians cannot figure out what their plan is. Auto workers do not know what their plan is. Does the member have any clue what the Liberals' plan is? I really have no clue.”
“Mr. Speaker, I listened to the fantastic speech my colleague gave. He talked about EVs. The Liberal government says it has an EV manufacturing strategy. How can we have an EV manufacturing strategy when we do not really manufacture any EVs in Canada, only about 700 Dodge Chargers, and the government is going to let in a flood of Chinese EVs, which will undercut any domestic Canadian EV industry? It may not sound like a lot, but 49,000 Chinese EVs makes up about 30% of the entire EV purchase market in Canada. Can my colleague explain the absolute incoherence of the Liberal policy on EVs?”
“Mr. Speaker, we all have things we want. What Canadians want is tariff-free access. What is the plan for tariff-free access? We keep hearing about the Liberals doing this and doing that, but while they are doing this and doing that, auto production has gone from two million to 1.2 million. Since the Liberal leader became Prime Minister , auto exports to the United States are down 55%. Despite all these things they are allegedly doing, if their plan is so great, why is auto production continuing to decline and what is their plan for actual tariff-free access, which is the only way the auto industry survives?”
“Mr. Speaker, what is incredible is how they never tell us what their plan is on anything. What is the Liberal plan to get tariffs removed from the United States? What is their plan for CUSMA review? How close are we to any of these things? We never know, because the Prime Minister never tells us. The Liberals have no plan to get rid of tariffs, and it is embarrassing.”
“They do not talk about it because they have no plan. We have a plan that is going to reshore production here in Canada and actually increase production in the United States, which is why the American President would be very interested in a plan like this. I hope the Liberals adopt it.”
“Mr. Speaker, I do not know what the Liberals' plan is, and I do not think they know what their plan is. What is amazing to me is that the member over here, in his question, said that we never talk about tariffs, which is patently false. I have been talking about tariffs and the Liberals' failure to get tariffs removed for almost a year. Let us be very clear what the Liberals do not talk about. They never talk about what their plan is for tariff-free access for the auto sector. What we need to understand, and the auto workers understand this, is that without tariff-free access, the Canadian auto industry might not survive. Therefore, what these people should be explaining to Canadians, and particularly Canadian auto workers, is what their plan is for tariff-free access for Canadian automobiles in the U.S.”
“No, Mr. Speaker, this will grow our auto production from 1.2 million vehicles a year to two million vehicles a year, and the parts ecosystem it puts into that is across the country. There are parts suppliers in Quebec that are going to benefit incredibly from this. There are parts suppliers in Ontario that are going to benefit from this. If we get our production up to two million vehicles a year, that is tens of billions of dollars of additional GDP, and Quebeckers will benefit from that as well.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is unbelievable. The Liberals' defence to overseeing the decimation of the Canadian auto industry is to have competing quotes. I have a quote from the Unifor local in Oshawa, the people who actually make the vehicles, who said that it is a great plan. Rather than talk about the plan or say the Liberals have a plan to get tariff-free access, the member tries to say there is a bad quote here. That is their defence to watching factories like Paccar close, in Brampton and in Ingersoll, with thousands of workers losing their jobs and exports down 55% since their leader took over as Prime Minister . The member's defence is that we got a bad quote. It is pathetic, just like their strategy for the auto sector.”
“The president of Unifor Oshawa assembly had this to say about our plan: “Finally, a common sense plan to protect the livelihood of thousands of Ontario Auto sector workers. A plan that restores past production levels and secures a long-term future.” We have a plan. We believe we can convince the American President to adopt this plan. The Liberals have no plan. Why do they not vote for our plan?”
“In its 15 plants around the world, it has 3,000 employees, because they just bang these things together. There would be no benefit for the Canadian economy. The Liberals have an EV battery strategy they spent billions of dollars on. Do we think a Chinese EV is going to use a battery made in our facilities? It absolutely would not. It would hollow out that facility as well. Our plan is that if someone wants to import a car into Canada tariff-free, they would have to build a car in Canada. That is the rule. This would cause production in Canada to grow, from 1.2 million vehicles to two million over a decade. Taking the GST off Canadian-made vehicles would accelerate that. This is a plan that is approved by the men and women who work on the lines in the assembly plants.”
“Let us be very clear: No manufacturer is coming to Canada if it does not have tariff-free access to the United States, because 90% of the vehicles it would produce would be sold into the United States, just as 90% of vehicles currently produced in Canada go into the United States. Another disturbing thing the Liberals have said is that maybe Chinese EV manufacturers would set up factories here. Let us break that down for a second. They would not integrate into the local parts ecosystem, because we are talking about Lego vehicles and breakdown factories. The vehicles are completely manufactured and assembled in China. They are sent over to Canada and then are assembled by very few employees. For example, BYD, a Chinese manufacturer, has 50,000 employees in its plants in China.”
“Here is the shocking thing: Since the new government came into power with the new Prime Minister , auto exports are down 55% from the 1.2 million that we manufacture. This is critical decline. The Liberals sit there and pretend they are doing something while this is all happening. They are not doing anything. I want to turn to some of the more troubling statements that the Liberals have made about auto in Canada. We just talked about their fantasy markets. First, it is deeply troubling that the industry minister thinks there is some fantasy market that can replace the U.S. market. Another troubling thing is that the Liberals talk about new manufacturers coming into Canada. They talk about maybe having a Korean manufacturer come into Canada.”
“Let us be very clear: Auto manufacturing in Canada is critically dependent on the U.S. market, and the Liberals have no plan to gain access to the U.S. market. Our plan is to link production with the ability to import tariff-free vehicles. This is a modified version of the old auto pact. The Liberals say we are going back in time. I think Canadians would love to go back in time, because under the auto pact, auto production in Canada went from 700,000 vehicles a year to three million. I think we would love to go back to that. If the Canadian auto sector could produce three million vehicles a year, it would be a boom to our economy and would surge employment. Instead we are going in the opposite direction with the Liberals. We were at 1.2 million vehicles.”
“They have all these fancy words they like to say, and then they wrap themselves in the flag and ask why we are talking down Canada. I want to be very clear: I am incredibly proud of our auto sector. I have been on the line with auto workers. I have met with the auto workers in Brampton who have lost their jobs as a result of the incompetence of the Liberal government. Canadian auto workers make the best vehicles in the world, with the highest quality and the highest profitability. Companies should want to have manufacturing facilities in Canada to be able to export to the United States. That is why the facilities are here. We actually manufacture only 130,000 vehicles per year that are bought in Canada. Of the 1.2 million vehicles manufactured, only 130,000 are purchased here in Canada.”
“Right now, the tariffs work out to be about 15% on Canadian autos that get exported. The tariff is actually on the non-American portion of the vehicle. It is a complicated formula but it works out to be about 15%. When the tariff is at 15%, we are paying to Donald Trump $2.5 billion a year. The Canadian auto industry cannot absorb those kinds of losses. Let us actually break it down. If we got to something like 5%, it is $800 million. Again, these are losses that the Canadian auto industry cannot survive. (1025) What is the plan for tariff-free access? There is no plan. The Liberals say weird statements such as that they are going to build the strongest economy in the G7. However, we have the only economy that is declining in the G7.”
“More cars were stolen in Canada last year, including two of the Minister of Justice 's vehicles, than were exported to Europe last year. Let us put that into perspective. It is a fantasy. There are no other markets on the planet for Canadian automobiles that can even come close to replacing the United States. The only way we actually have a market in the United States is if we have tariff-free access. That is the only way this works. The Liberals have been saying a whole bunch of things lately, one of which is that we have to accept that there will be tariffs in order to have access to the American market. I know they are talking about auto when they say that, because apparently, a while ago, they almost had a deal with Donald Trump that would have included permanent tariffs on Canadian automobiles. Let us talk about what that means.”
“I say “managed decline” because there is nothing in their auto strategy that talks about how we get from 1.2 million vehicles per year, the decimation they allowed to happen in the sector, back up to the two million vehicles a year we manufactured in 2015. They have no plan for that. What they do have are some maybe clever-sounding sound bites. I think the industry minister said we are going to manufacture the future electric vehicles that the world wants. She said something like that. Let us break that down for a second. Number one, over 95% of the vehicles we produce in Canada get exported to the United States. Number two, where would these vehicles go, these mythical Canadian-manufactured EVs that the industry minister talks about? Would they go to Europe?”
“Number one, auto manufacturing in and of itself is a $17-billion contribution to Canada's GDP. When we look at the ecosystem, which includes the parts and tool and die, it is $94 billion. That is how important it is. There is also the advanced manufacturing we get with auto. If we did not have an auto sector, Canada would lose the critical advanced manufacturing that is important for things like defence production and other things. The managed decline that the Liberals have allowed to happen to the auto sector is completely unacceptable. They announced, to great fanfare, their new auto strategy, which I think is actually managed decline.”
“Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Oshawa . What we have witnessed over the last decade of Liberal governance of this country is the decimation of the Canadian auto industry. There is no other word that appropriately describes the decline that the Liberals have allowed to happen to our once proud auto sector. Look at where we were under the last year of a Conservative government, when Canadian auto companies manufactured two million vehicles per year. Fast-forward to the last year on record, which is 2024, and that number has declined by almost 50%. We now manufacture 1.2 million vehicles per year. That is the Liberal government's record in terms of managing the Canadian auto sector. I cannot stress enough how important, how critical, the auto sector is to the Canadian economy.”
“Motion moved: That, given that, (i) auto production in Canada has halved since the Liberals took office in 2015, including another 7.8% since this Prime Minister took office, (ii) Canada lost over 5,000 jobs in the auto sector since the Prime Minister took office, (iii) exports of passenger cars and light trucks have fallen by more than 53% since the Prime Minister took office, (iv) unjustified American tariffs threaten to end our auto sector, (v) the idea of a permanent rupture with the US auto market is a dangerous illusion as the US buys 90% of Canadian-made automobiles and the rest of the world buys 1%, (vi) the Liberal government has failed so far to table a plan that would persuade Americans to remove tariffs on Canadian goods, the House call on the government to support the Conservative plan to double automotive production through a tariff-free auto pact that includes: (a) making it easier to build and buy Canadian by removing the GST on all Canadian-made vehicles, ending counterproductive Liberal EV mandates and rebates, and harmonizing tailpipe emissions reductions with our North American partners; (b) bringing home production through performance by implementing a rule where for every car produced in Canada, the same manufacturer would get to sell a car in Canada, duty-free, from a CUSMA partner, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, similar to the 1965 Canada-US Auto Pact; (c) protecting North American supply chains by maintaining the minimum 75% North American content and existing CUSMA rules of origin; (d) developing automotive security and technology by creating a harmonized North American cybersecurity and data standard, while banning vehicles using software connected to China or Russia; and (e) standing firm against unfair trade by aligning with North American partners on Chinese tariffs if they accept this plan, for maximum leverage in CUSMA renegotiations, to secure tariff-free access to the US market, and to save and expand Canada's auto industry.”
“Mr. Speaker, I do not know what is more troubling: the fact that she does not recognize that a decline from two million vehicles a year to 1.2 million is devastating or the fact that she talks about her plan, which includes exporting vehicles to Europe. More vehicles were stolen in Canada last year, including two of the justice minister 's, than were exported to Europe. We have a plan to get tariff-free access to the United States. It would boost auto production. It is supported by Unifor. Local 222 said, “Finally a common sense plan” to restore auto production. Why do they not get on board and stop with this managed decline?”
“Mr. Speaker, the last decade of Liberal government has been absolutely devastating for the Canadian auto industry. We have seen auto production go from two million vehicles a year down to 1.2 million, and even worse, this year we have seen auto exports decline by 55%. This is devastating for auto workers. Plants have closed. Many have lost their livelihoods. The Liberal plan for the auto sector seems to be “managed decline”. Instead of managed decline, why do they not join us and get tariff-free access to the United States by supporting the Conservative renewed auto pact?”
“Mr. Speaker, we care what happens in Canada as well. We want development. We just do not want corrupt Liberal development, because no matter which government it is, the Liberals find a way to engage in corrupt practices. Under the Chrétien Liberals, it was the sponsorship scandal, handing out money in envelopes. Under the Trudeau Liberals, it was creating a fund run by Liberals who gave the money to their own companies. Now the Liberals have said, “We found a new plan.” The so-called new government has a new plan, and this is to give subprime loans to Liberals to pad their profits. Why is every new Liberal government corrupt?”
“Mr. Speaker, remember the sponsorship scandal? It was a bunch of Liberals running around with money in brown envelopes, handing it out to other Liberal insiders. Well, the Trudeau Liberals said, “That's too complicated. We have to get the money, then we have to get the envelopes, then we have to run around and hand it out.” Therefore they created the green slush fund and appointed the people to run it, and the people who ran it gave the money to their own companies. However, they got caught, so the so-called new Liberals came up with a new plan: to give loans well below market rate to Liberal-controlled companies to pad their profits. No matter how many Liberal governments there are, why is it the same corruption?”
“Mr. Speaker, as usual, the minister's answers to questions about the auto sector are some combination of suggesting that we are not doing enough, and fake news. Let us look at the results, which are clear. The exports to the United States are down 32% for light-duty and passenger vehicles. That is billions of dollars. This is a direct result of the tariffs the Liberals said they would have removed by Canada Day 2025. It is approaching Canada Day 2026. They failed to get the tariffs off, which they said they would do. The auto industry has been devastated. Why do the Liberals not admit their failures and apologize to auto workers and the auto sector?”
“Mr. Speaker, for months we have said that the punishing auto tariffs that have been put on our auto industry are devastating and would devastate the industry. With 10,000 jobs lost, the Liberals did nothing. Three plants closed, and the Liberals did nothing. There has been 2.5 billion dollars' worth of tariffs charged to our auto manufacturers, and now the roosters have come home to roost. StatsCan reports that sales of vehicles and light-duty vehicles are down 32%, exports are down 32% and parts are down 21%. These are the worst export numbers since COVID. When will the Liberals realize they are failing our auto workers?”
“Mr. Speaker, what is laughable is how these Liberals get up and talk about things they know very little about. Let us talk about the auto sector. What is very clear is that the Canadian auto sector cannot survive at a 5% tariff. These Liberals somehow bungled it into a 25% tariff, and we have had the result of thousands of auto job losses. They have some strange strategy that includes giving EV rebates to American cars from the president who wants to take our entire auto sector. Meanwhile, our economy is actually shrinking as a result of these terrible decisions. When will they wake up to the fact that their decisions are hurting the Canadian economy?”
“Mr. Speaker, Liberals sure love to talk a good game. For months, they have been saying they are going to build the fastest-growing economy in the G7. I mean, at least they got the fastest right. The problem is that it is actually the fastest-shrinking economy in the G7. That was just reported. This is what we get when we get a Liberal government that is all talk, all photo ops and all fancy announcements, but the reality is that they are driving the Canadian economy into the ditch. When will the Liberals recognize their fancy photo ops and fancy announcements are not an actual plan to get the Canadian economy to grow?”
“Mr. Speaker, the probe the Liberals ordered determined they needed to do another probe. I am sure there are a lot of things we could say about that. Here are the facts: The head of CUPE Air Canada came to committee when we were looking into this and asked what the Liberals were going to study next. Is water wet? He went on to say, about this study, “We called for action last summer, and instead we got a study that has resulted in a promise to perform an additional study”. This is really thin gruel from the Liberals. Conservatives know flight attendants work for free. That is why we introduced a bill to fix it. Why do the Liberals not steal that idea, like they steal all our ideas, and help flight attendants instead of doing another study?”
“Mr. Speaker, for almost two years, flight attendants told the government and parliamentarians they were working for free, and we believed them. Conservatives introduced a bill to fix the problem. Liberals did not believe them and ordered a study. After six months, the study determined that we need to do another study. This stuff can't be made up. Why will the Liberals not believe flight attendants when they say they are working for free and adopt the Conservative bill that would fix the problem, instead of ordering another study to study a study?”
“Mr. Speaker, next week, Kosovo will celebrate the 18th anniversary of its independence. Canada has had a long and proud friendship with Kosovo, and I am proud, as a Canadian, that we were one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo's independence. My wife is from Kosovo, and we spent part of our honeymoon there, where we enjoyed amazing food and I learned so much about their rich culture. Kosovars are deeply proud of their country. I have one piece of advice: Anyone who goes to Kosovo should go to Rahovec for a macchiato. It is the best coffee I have had in my life. My son, William Kastriot Seeback, is named after their national hero, a man who stood for courage and independence. I want to join with Kosovars around the world celebrating independence next week here in Canada and abroad. Urime Dita e Pavarësisë.”
“Mr. Speaker, I have been meeting with auto workers for the past two years. It is how we came up with our policy to take the HST off of all Canadian autos. That was actually an idea of union workers. What is not their idea is to give their tax dollars to Donald Trump's America to build American vehicles. These Liberals will not answer this question: Why are they giving these subsidies to EVs made in America when Donald Trump's stated goal is to destroy the Canadian auto industry? It is embarrassing. It is disgraceful. It is disgusting. They should look Canadian auto workers in the eye and apologize, but I know they will not.”
“Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday evening, I was in Toronto for the Unifor skilled trades conference. Those are the men and women who work in our auto plants to make sure the machinery and equipment work. When I told them that their tax dollars were going to go to subsidizing the purchase of American EVs, they were outraged and disgusted. They could not believe it was happening. It is simple: Why would Canadian tax dollars be going to subsidize American EVs when Donald Trump is trying to kill our auto industry? Will the Liberals show they care about auto workers by cancelling the rebates for American EVs?”
“Mr. Speaker, I know this member likes to raise his voice a lot, shout a lot and feign indignation at a whole bunch of things, but I have a serious question, which I have asked in question period over almost two weeks now, and I have not received anything that even resembles an answer. I suspect I will not get one now, but I will try again. We are in the middle of a trade war with Donald Trump and the United States. He has said that he wants to take every single Canadian auto manufacturing job and bring it to the United States. To do that, he has put in punishing tariffs, which are accomplishing some of that. Why would the Liberals' strategy include one penny for American-made EVs when there are tariffs on our cars? The auto workers who I have talked to find that absolutely disgusting.”
“Governments should not pick winners and losers; they should create environments in which all companies want to invest and risk capital, and let the best company win with the best idea.”
“Madam Speaker, the challenge is that the government likes to pick winners and losers across a whole host of things. The problem with that is that governments do very few things well, the current government even less than normal governments. When governments are trying to pick winners and losers in industry, they almost always pick the wrong things. We could look at what happened with the battery plants. Stellantis just sold its interest in the battery plant for $100. It is not actually producing car batteries anymore, for which the Liberals gave them all the money. It is now producing home batteries. Because it did not know which technology was going to lead in the EV sector, the government put all its eggs in one basket, and it made the wrong choice.”
“Madam Speaker, that has a pretty simple answer. Number one is that those are things available in the tax code; they are not a direct rebate. Those are totally different things. They are tax advantages that every company that operates in Canada gets. Number two is that they are actually operating in Canada, creating Canadian jobs, paying Canadian taxes and creating Canadian wealth. Vehicles manufactured in the United States do none of those things, so I do not understand why the member is confused. It seems very obvious to me.”
“Madam Speaker, it is kind of unbelievable to me that the member would ask that question. I think I was very clear that we would take the HST off every vehicle made in Canada. That would spur the automakers in Canada to invest in Canada. They might decide they are going to invest in multivehicle platforms at their remaining factories here in Canada so they can produce more different models of Canadian vehicles that do not have HST, because they would be less expensive than those of their competitors. There is one thing I have never gotten an answer to, despite asking many times in question period. I know the member will not answer it today and will not answer it in question period. Why are the Liberals giving rebates for American-made vehicles when Donald Trump has declared a trade war on Canada and is trying to ruin our auto sector?”
“I do not know why the government would ever consider sending a penny of Canadian dollars to vehicles made in the United States when Donald Trump has declared a trade war on Canada. The Liberals should apologize to Canadians for that.”
“Elon Musk's Tesla is a winner, but Canadian manufactured vehicles are not. There is a very simple thing that could happen in this Parliament. Number one, the government could change this legislation so that not a single penny of Canadian dollars will go to subsidize vehicles made in Donald Trump's America. It is very simple, and every single Canadian would support this. Number two, the government could take the HST off Canadian-made vehicles to support the 125,000 men and women who work in the automotive supply chain in Canada, 95% of whom make non-electric vehicles. It would spur demand. It might actually bring back some jobs. I do not know why the government is not doing this.”
“However, the Liberals are going to double down on it. They are doubling down on giving money to Donald Trump's America and doubling down on a strategy that the automakers are moving away from. It gets worse. Ford just announced today that they took a $1.1-billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2025. They lose $27,000 for every EV they make. They have also said they are going to reorient and move towards consumer demand, yet the Liberals are going in the opposite direction. It does not make sense. We need to allow market conditions to determine the kinds of vehicles that people are going to buy, like the hybrid RAV4 that my colleague from Oxford talked about. Why is that not eligible for these subsidies? Why are the Liberals picking and choosing winners? This person is a winner; this vehicle is a winner.”
“It would not send a penny of Canadian tax dollars to Donald Trump and his buy American program, unlike their EV subsidy program, which I will again say is absolutely outrageous and unacceptable when we are in the middle of a trade war with the United States. I want to talk a little about the strategy. The Liberal EV strategy is to produce a lot more EVs. That is what they say they are going to do. There might be a slight problem with that. Stellantis, in an announcement just this week, has said it is moving away from electric vehicles and moving away from the command economy to the demand economy, because demand is actually for non-EVs. That is Stellantis, one of the largest auto manufacturers in the entire world. They are saying it is actually not time to double down on EVs, because consumer demand is not there.”
“This would actually incentivize Canadians to buy vehicles. If we look at taking the 13% HST off a vehicle in Ontario, on a $50,000 vehicle we are looking at around $7,000. We are in a cost of living crisis, and when a lot of Canadians go out shopping, they are looking at the cost of things very intently. If they could buy a Canadian car for $7,000 less than an American car or a Japanese car or any other country's car, they will buy the Canadian vehicle. That is why it is so incomprehensible that the Liberals will not adopt our policy. It is a policy the auto sector workers want. It is one that will be good for all auto production.”
“Rather than having a program that is going to primarily benefit the United States and other countries, why not have a program to support our auto workers? (1145) This policy to take the HST off all Canadian-produced autos came from auto workers. I know because I met with them, I talked to them, and I asked, “What could we do to come up with a policy that would help each and every one of you to secure your jobs, to actually bring back some production jobs?” This is what they talked about, because over 95% of the vehicles produced in Canada are not EVs. The 125,000 Canadians who work in the automotive sector in Canada rely on non-EV vehicle production. These niche subsidies that the Liberals are giving to help Donald Trump's buy America program are not helping the auto sector, not even remotely.”