I would.
Look, I appreciate that many of us here are elected and we have a partisan job to do, but I really want to speak very sincerely as Canada's finance minister and as a person who fought so hard, supported really by our whole country, to maintain that essential trading relationship with the United States. It was clear to me that with each passing hour, our economic reputation with the United States as a reliable trading partner and as a reliable investment destination was being damaged.
I'm going to quote Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan congresswoman. This is what she had to say:
It doesn’t matter if it’s an adversary or an ally—we can’t be this reliant on parts coming from foreign countries.
The one thing that couldn’t be more clear is that we have to bring American manufacturing back home to states like Michigan. If we don’t, it’s American workers...who are left holding the bag.
Then she vowed the following:
to continue the work that Michiganders have been pushing for over the last 30 years: bringing manufacturing of critical items back to the U.S. so we’re not dependent on others for our economic security.
This is so dangerous to Canada, colleagues. I was deeply, deeply concerned that these illegal blockades and this illegal occupation would provoke a whole new wave of protectionism and deeply erode our trading relationship with the United States. That was a real economic threat.
Going back to Mr. Motz's point, reputational harm is not something that you necessarily feel fully in the moment. It's something that you feel in the years ahead. Later on I'll quote Flavio Volpe, who talked about, at the time, his concerns that, going forward, investors would not choose to put their money into Canada because they would, quite reasonably, say to themselves that there is no guarantee that parts we build in Canada will be able to freely and easily travel to the United States.
I also spoke directly with U.S. government officials. They were very, very worried. I was very, very worried as well. The measures that we took were serious. The members of this committee are right to scrutinize them carefully. But I do also want to remind everyone here that the economic harm—in the moment and in the weeks, months and indeed years to come—was serious, and it was becoming more serious every single day.