Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today in this adjournment debate. On October 8, during oral question period, the leader of the Bloc Québécois pointed out that Bombardier had announced substantial job cuts because its clients could not guarantee that they would actually order existing models of aircraft.
On that day, the Bloc was sounding the alarm to the federal government that not only was there that situation, but that it was the federal government's responsibility, through the technology partnerships Canada program, to come to the aid of Bombardier by assuring buyers of attractive purchase terms through Export Development Canada.
Now it is November and we have not had any news as to whether or not the Canadian government will do anything to help out and protect jobs. We have been waiting for months, for years, because we have had significant negative signals.
For example, the technology partnerships Canada program is a good program in itself but it is not funded sufficiently well to meet the demand. These funds must be increased so that satisfactory research can be conducted.
Bombardier has plans to develop a plane with a passenger capacity of between 110 and 130. This is an unparalleled niche in the world market today. It is essential that the company have access to some form of research and development assistance in order to develop this plane.
We are talking about a maximum of $2 billion, $700 million of which should be provided by the governments. During the election campaign, the federal government announced major new investments in the Ontario auto industry, but it is unable to make a similar effort for the aerospace industry concentrated in Quebec.
Could the government go ahead and announce its policy as soon as possible and allow positive contributions to be made? It is essential that this research be conducted, and that this new aircraft be developed and built. This would help compensate in a timely fashion for the layoffs announced by Bombardier in connection with less popular models, thanks to this new model requested by international clients. What is lacking right now is adequate funding for research.
Many people are listening in today. At Bombardier, workers have received layoff notices, or are about to receive them. We believe that we cannot afford to lose this expertise. Will the federal government go ahead and announce as soon as possible its new aerospace policy, as well as the budget that will be allocated to it? Through Technology Partnerships Canada, this money would help ensure that the research necessary to develop this new aircraft is conducted. That is what we are expecting of the federal government.