44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 27, 2023 11:00AM
- Nov/27/23 2:12:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians recently learned that a second Northvolt battery plant, subsidized by the Liberals, will give hundreds of jobs to foreign replacement workers rather than to unionized workers. Those jobs should be for Quebeckers. The government allocated over $7 billion in taxpayer subsidies to this project.
We found this out after hearing that Stellantis will be doing the same thing at its plant in Windsor. At first, the Liberals called that news disinformation. Then they changed their story and said that there was only one foreign worker. Soon after, they changed their story again to just a small number of workers. Stellantis has now confirmed that at least 900 taxpayer-funded foreign replacement workers will be brought to Canada to work in this plant.
Now that we know that foreign replacement workers will be used in the Stellantis and Northvolt plants, are the Liberals going to do the same thing at the Volkswagen plant in London?
The Prime Minister seems to have forgotten that he is supposed to serve Canadians first. The common-sense Conservatives are calling for the Prime Minister to finally be honest and publish the contracts for all taxpayer-funded battery plants.
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- Nov/27/23 2:13:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the NDP-Liberal government is just not worth the cost.
Last week, we learned that Stellantis and LG are bringing in foreign workers to their manufacturing facility in Windsor. This is the same facility that is receiving $15 billion in taxpayer subsidies after it threatened to close up shop unless the government paid up. That is about $1,000 in additional debt for every Canadian household. The government sold this sweetheart deal as a win for Canadian workers in the automotive sector, but when the news from the Windsor police first broke that taxpayer dollars were subsidizing foreign workers, Liberal ministers responded that the number of foreign workers would be anywhere from one person to a very few people. We have now learned that it is close to 1,000 people.
Behind all the noise, we have a government that has lost its way and is afraid to admit its mistakes. Canada, including Windsor, is home to many skilled workers. People in Windsor and in all of Canada know that taxpayer dollars should not be used to fund foreign workers. The government needs to release the Stellantis and LG contract so Canadians can know the truth.
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- Nov/27/23 2:20:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is spending $44 billion to subsidize three battery plants. That $44 billion breaks down to $3 billion for every Canadian family.
That money was supposed to create jobs, but now we find out that 900 foreign replacement workers are coming to Windsor. Another several hundred foreign workers are coming to Montérégie.
Can we see the contract for each plant to find out how much of Canadian taxpayers' money the Prime Minister is spending on foreign workers?
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- Nov/27/23 2:20:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Canadians are seeing just what a risky bet the Conservatives are.
When he was minister of employment, Canada's manufacturing sector lost not 3,000, not 30,000, but 300,000 jobs.
Stellantis is going to invest $3.4 billion to build one of the largest plants in North America. We are going to create 2,500 jobs for Canadians.
We will continue to invest in Windsor, we will continue to invest in the sector, and we will continue to invest in Canada's workers.
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- Nov/27/23 3:02:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are spending billions on taxpayer-funded foreign replacement workers on the new EV battery plant in Windsor.
Windsor officials report that there will be up to 1,600 foreign replacement workers. One Liberal minister said there was only going to be one. Another minister said there would just be a few. A third said of course there will be foreign workers. The company said there would be 1,600, then 900 and then 1,600.
The Liberals cannot get their story straight. Will they come clean, tell the truth and release the contract, so all Canadians can tell what is going on here?
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- Nov/27/23 3:03:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us set the story straight.
Let us listen to Dave Cassidy, the president of Unifor Local 444 in Windsor, Ontario:
We have 900 skilled trades working on the site today — 900. We're gonna go up to about 2,000 trades, they tell me it's going to go up to about 2,000 trades. There's also on top of that going to be 2,500 unionized Local 444 members inside that facility.
We should listen to workers.
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- Nov/27/23 3:04:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives, especially from a party whose leader, when he was minister of employment, oversaw the loss of not 3,000, not 30,000 but 300,000 manufacturing jobs. Can we imagine? It is shameful.
With an investment of $3.4 billion by Stellantis, we will be creating 2,500 jobs at the plant. We are going to continue to invest in Windsor. We will invest in our workers. We will invest in our industries.
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- Nov/27/23 3:08:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, nearly $50 billion of taxpayers' money is subsidizing three battery plants. That is nearly $3,000 for every Canadian family. We have learned that hundreds of workers who will receive this money will be foreign replacement workers. We expected Canadians' money to be used to fund unionized, well-paying jobs for Canadians and Quebeckers. Instead, this money will be used to hire 900 foreign replacement workers in Windsor and hundreds more in Saint‑Basile‑le‑Grand and McMasterville.
After eight years, why has the Prime Minister failed to secure Quebec jobs in Montérégie?
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- Nov/27/23 3:09:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians watching at home must be wondering what is going on.
One thing they see is that the Conservatives were against Volkswagen's investment. They were against Stellantis' investment. They were against GM's investment. They were against Ford's investment. Now we have just learned that they are against Northvolt's investment in Quebec.
With Stellantis' record $3.4‑billion investment in Windsor, we will create 2,500 jobs. Up to 2,300 Canadian workers will build the plant.
We believe in the automotive industry. We believe in our workers. We believe in Canada's prosperity.
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- Nov/27/23 3:09:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the Quebeckers watching us on television right now that the Liberals are doing everything in their power to keep Quebeckers from finding out the truth about contracts.
First, a Liberal minister said that there would be just one foreign replacement worker in Windsor. That changed to a handful. Then the chief of police said there would be 1,600 foreign workers. Radio-Canada added to the story when it reported that hundreds of foreign workers would be replacing Quebeckers in jobs subsidized by Quebec taxpayers in Montérégie.
This Prime Minister is not worth the cost. I challenge him to make the contracts public. Will he do it?
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- Nov/27/23 3:11:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after learning that this government has earmarked $15 billion in public money to fund foreign workers in Windsor, now we learn that Northvolt in Quebec will also need foreign workers. We are talking about another $7 billion in taxpayers' money.
The Liberals said there would be only a small number of employees. We are now talking about several hundred employees. We need to get to the truth.
This Prime Minister has failed to protect jobs for Quebeckers. He must make the battery plants contracts public.
When will he make them public?
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- Nov/27/23 6:09:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder how the hon. member for Windsor West squares the rhetoric we keep hearing from the Conservatives about powerful paycheques with the fact that they oppose legislation like this and they have twice before voted against a federal minimum wage.
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