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Jim Quick, President and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC), issued the following statement today on the announcement that Navdeep Bains, Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry will not be running in the next election and is leaving Cabinet.
As a result, Minister François-Philippe Champagne, currently Foreign Affairs Minister, will replace Minister Bains, and Transport Minister Marc Garneau will move to Foreign Affairs. Omar Alghabra has been appointed the new Federal Minister of Transport.
“As we welcome the new ministers our message remains: Help is needed now. Government cannot delay. The challenges of the second wave of the COVID-19 crisis have made the need for an aerospace sector-specific strategy even more urgent.
“We look forward to working closely with Minister Champagne, Minister Alghabra, Minister Garneau, and parliamentarians across the country, regarding the upcoming stimulus to ensure that aerospace, and its 235,000 jobs and $28 billion in annual GDP, is preserved and strengthened.
“On behalf of the entire aerospace industry, I wish Minister Bains all the best in his decision to step away from federal politics and focus on his family. I have appreciated the cooperation he’s shown as we’ve worked closely for the past five years to make progress on issues of importance to our world-class industry to help them succeed and compete globally.”
