This challenge before us is not just about saving the auto industry. This is about our overall economy, and our future as a trading nation.
Economic studies (like the recent report from the Centre for Spatial Economics) show that if the Detroit 3 disappeared from Canada, we'd lose up to 600,000 jobs. Only 25,000 of those 600,000 jobs are CAW members who work for the Detroit 3. The rest are other Canadians.
We'd go from recession to depression overnight. So this isn't just about auto. And it isn't a bailout, either. After all, these are commercial loans, not hand-outs. Bridge financing from the government's own banking institutions, the like Export Development Corporation. Not from taxpayers' pockets.
We all have a stake in keeping this industry going in Canada. We're all counting on the jobs, the exports, the taxes that are generated by this industry. It's not a bail-out, it's an investment...
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...The CAW is willing to engage in wide-open tripartite discussions with the companies and with governments over how to address those legacy cost issues.
There are ways to address these issues, going forward. But it can't be done at the bargaining table. And that's why there's no reason for us to go back to the bargaining table again with General Motors.
We will continue bargaining with Chrysler. And we will continue talking with the companies and the governments over legacy issues and how to manage them going forward.
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