Tamara Kronis

“Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking our Bloc Québécois colleagues for moving this motion today. It is important that we stand together as a nation at this point in time to address the unjustified tariffs imposed by the United States, so I would like to thank them for that. I come from Burlington, Ontario. When I look to the west and the south from my constituency office, I see the steel mills in Hamilton. When I look to the east, I see the Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Oakville. In between and all around me, there are small and medium-sized manufacturers in the steel and automotive business that are major exporters to the United States and employ tens of thousands of people in my community and surrounding areas. This conversation today is so important because the section 232 tariffs are in direct violation of CUSMA, the agreement we signed with the United States. The tariffs are a challenge to the businesses, but, most importantly, to the people in my community who are looking for certainty and stability and hoping this issue will be resolved soon with the United States. I have spent so much time over the last year talking to business owners and employees in my community about what these tariffs mean for them. When they were first applied at 25% on the steel, aluminum, auto and softwood lumber industries, and now copper, they had a major impact, but when they were increased to 50%, it was devastating for our economy. I am really glad that the federal government and the Prime Minister recognize that and are acting swiftly to support these businesses. In fact, just yesterday, the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Artificial Intelligence announced a $1‑billion additional fund to support businesses and tariff-affected sectors. I have heard from so many businesses in my community that this relief is so important. We need to ensure as a government that we are supporting these businesses in weathering this storm. We know we have some of the most innovative businesses, some of the best manufacturers and most highly skilled workers in the world in southern Ontario and around the country, but we need to support them in getting through this time, and support them to retool, re-skill and find new export markets to make sure they can continue to thrive and be successful. I had the pleasure of touring some of these amazing plants. I was at a company on Saturday evening in my riding, the Thomson-Gordon Group and Thordon Bearings. They make these incredible ship bearings that do not use oil. They are eco-friendly and export around the world. This is an opportunity for us to showcase that Canadian talent, Canadian skills and Canadian products and use this opportunity to double our exports around the world, to make sure we are bringing this Canadian ingenuity, skill and talent right around the globe. I do not want to minimize the importance of the relationship with the United States. Eighty per cent of Canadians live within 100 kilometres of the U.S. border. When I talk to manufacturers in southern Ontario, I hear that often 50% to 70% of their exports currently go to the United States. It is so important for us to get a good deal with the Americans, and that is exactly what this government is aiming to do. However, in the meantime, we also have to make our economy more resilient and less dependent on the United States so that we can weather these shocks. I was in Washington, D.C., a couple of weeks ago and talked to some American colleagues there. One of the key things we have to understand is that we have a lot of friends in the United States. We have a lot of allies in the United States who want to do business with Canada and continue to support what has made both of our countries prosperous, the cross-border trade, the North American economy that we have developed that is so integrated over the last few decades, but we also need to demonstrate to them that we are an important partner and they have to be able to show us that we can trust them into the future. When the Prime Minister talks about the fact that our relationship has irrevocably changed, what he is talking about is whether Canadians and Canadian businesses can trust that, moving into the future, the agreements that we sign with our American partners are going to be honoured and respected. As Canadians, we value the relationship we have with the United States. We value that cross-border relationship when it comes to our economy, our friendship and our Armed Forces, which have served side by side in conflict after conflict. We are friends, allies and business partners and we want that to continue. However, Canadians need assurances that when the Americans sign those agreements they are going to honour them into the future. When it comes to the section 232 tariffs, this latest change that we saw on April 6 is going to be really difficult for Canadian companies. That is why yesterday’s announcement by the government that we continue to support our Canadian companies is so important. There was a report that came out of the University of Calgary a couple of weeks ago that looked at the impact of the section 232 tariffs on the overall economy. While it is true that upward of 85% of Canada’s exports to the United States are still covered under CUSMA, and we need to do everything we can to protect that and ensure that continues, the sectors that are affected by the 232 tariffs are disproportionately in Ontario and Quebec because it is steel, aluminum and auto manufacturing that are most impacted. When we look at Ontario and Quebec, we see that the percentage of our U.S. exports that are hit by the 232 tariffs in Ontario is 60%, and in Quebec it is almost 55%. This is our manufacturing heartland and something we need to protect, nourish and support moving into the future. If we are going to move forward, as we are planning to, with the defence industrial strategy, building Canada and ensuring we have the infrastructure we need, we need to have a strong and vibrant steel and aluminum sector. That is why we are providing supports to the steel sector. It is why we have imposed import duties on non-free trade partners when it comes to steel in Canada. It is why the buy Canadian strategy when it comes to steel in our infrastructure is so important. These are the industries we rely on to build our country. I will conclude by saying that today’s motion and debate are really important, because we need to be unified. We need to be team Canada. We need to protect the businesses, employees and people who make our country strong and make it run.”