Let me speak to the challenge being faced by our auto sector.

I understand the sentiment being expressed by my colleague. There is a great deal of anxiety being felt by Ontario families. In some cases, there's outright fear. What we're experiencing in Ontario is really without precedent; I understand that. But let me tell you what we're doing on the auto sector front.

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The first thing that we're doing is, we're working as closely as we can both with the federal government and the United States of America's government, understanding we have a fully integrated industry, understanding that this is going through restructuring, but understanding that what's at stake here is 400,000 good Ontario jobs. So we have said to the Auto Industry-and my colleague is aware of this-we're prepared to put forward $4 billion by way of initial support for this particular industry. That's a significant contribution on the part of Ontario taxpayers. We'll expect that the auto sector, including the workers themselves, will bring something to the table.

I'm going to be meeting with the leader of the CAW shortly. I had the opportunity to meet with representatives of our auto sector, the Detroit Three, and Honda and Toyota. I've had an opportunity to talk to the Prime Minister about this. Ministers Bryant and Clement are in Detroit, and shortly they'll be going on to Washington.

I'll put our record as a government up against any American state. You should ask them what they think of Ontario and the fact that we remain, now, for five years running, the number one producer of vehicles in North America. Ask them what they think about us landing $7 billion worth of new investment in the last five years. I'll put our record up against anybody else's.

What's at stake right now is the future of the sector. There are some important questions yet to be answered in this regard. We will keep working hard and well with all concerned. We will build a solid foundation that shows great promise for the future of the Auto Industry in the province of Ontario.

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I thought that you could count on the NDP at least to support us as we worked with the CAW and the auto sector in Ontario to invest in the expansion of the Auto Industry in our province.

I chatted yesterday, once again, with Buzz Hargrove. We talked about this particular issue. We talked about the new agreement they've entered into with Ford-which I am sure is going to be a competitive force to be reckoned with-as we fight for more investment against the US.

But I can tell you that in each and every instance where we have invested and partnered with the auto sector, there are specific agreements and specific obligations that have to be honoured on the part of the industry, and they've done that. The fact of the matter is, the US economy continues to slow down. There's a lesser demand for the product that we've been making here, and that has had an impact on us. That's unfortunate, but we will continue to work with both the CAW and GM-