Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
The subsidies granted for these electric battery plant projects total $50 billion in public funds, or $3,000 in taxes provided by every Canadian family. That's a lot of money. Imagine what every Canadian family can do with $3,000. The government chose to send this money to three companies to create what were originally called Canadian jobs.
Unfortunately, in recent weeks, we've learned that this money won't just be used to create Canadian jobs in the plants that were announced with great fanfare by the government. Two weeks ago, we learned that in Windsor, foreign replacement workers would be paid with this money provided by Canadian and Quebec families.
The Liberals first said, when we reported this, that it was disinformation and not true. Then they changed their story, saying that there would probably be only one foreign worker there to come and give advice. Now we have confirmation, from the company itself, that at least 900 taxpayer-funded foreign replacement workers will be hired to work in the Windsor plant.
From there, we also have to ask questions about what will happen in the case of the Northvolt plant to be built in Quebec. In fact, two Northvolt plants will be built in Quebec.
Following questions that have been asked, and in light of what we've learned in the media, we now know that Northvolt, in Quebec, will bring in hundreds of foreign replacement workers, who will be funded by taxpayers to fill jobs that should go to Quebecers. Northvolt will receive more than $7 billion in public funds to carry out this project.
So we know that foreign replacement workers will be at the Stellantis plant and the Northvolt plant, and there's every reason to believe, if the trend continues, that the Volkswagen contract will also call for hundreds of foreign workers, paid for by Canadian taxpayers.
We will therefore support the motion, with good reason, to obtain a copy of these contracts.
Why do we have the right to see these contracts, you may ask? It's because they're on an unprecedented scale. They represent $50 billion, or $3,000 in taxes per family. This hard-earned money that families have given to the government is going to be given to these companies. We had hoped that this would create Canadian jobs, but we're learning that this will not be the case. For all these reasons, it's important that these contracts be made public. We need to know if the government took steps to ensure that this money was going to be used to create Canadian unionized and skilled jobs that are paid for by Canadians. This is absolutely essential.
Of course, Mr. Chair, you're going to hear from the Liberals today that this is a contract and we can't release all the information, because that would interfere with future negotiations with other companies to attract foreign investment to Canada. However, this is Canadians' money. We're talking about $50 billion, or $3,000 per family. Canadians have a right to know what kind of contracts this government is signing with private companies, and they have a right to know what is being done with their money.
So it's important that we have all the contracts quickly, in their entirety, because Canadians have a right to see them. We have a right to know how sensitive this government has been to protecting jobs for Canadian and Quebec workers.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.