An employee works on vehicle production at a conveyor belt at the FCA Brampton Assembly Plant in Brampton, Ont.Tijana Martin/The Globe and Mail

James Arnett is a former chief executive of Molson Inc. and former chair of Hydro One Inc.

James Hinds is a former managing director of TD Securities and former chair of the Independent Electricity System Operator board.

Greg Sorbara is a former Ontario finance minister.

Autos have been a mainstay manufacturing industry of Central Canada ever since Henry Ford set up his assembly plant in Windsor and Sam McLaughlin began manufacturing Buicks in Oshawa more than 100 years ago.

Its success in creating wealth and jobs for hundreds of thousands of Canadians over the years has been fundamental to the growth of the country. The Auto Pact of 1965 took it to another level as it gained privileged access to the huge, lucrative American market.

But, for a variety of reasons, it has been in relative decline this century and now its very existence is in doubt as Canada begins talks to renew USMCA. Meanwhile, 20 per cent of its capital investment is already provided by the federal and provincial governments. If the USMCA talks are unsuccessful, it’ll be on palliative care.

We........

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