I asked myself, “Why are the Conservatives so hell-bent on their campaign of misinformation?” I have some theories, which I'd like to share with the committee.
I'm going to read what Dave Cassidy said into the record. This is important. He said that the facts of the matter are these: “If it was up to the Conservatives, we would not have this investment in Windsor today.” You know, Dave says it as straight as it is. He said that the Conservatives “look at it as corporate welfare instead of a return on an investment for all the workers that will be there.” Again, Dave says it straight. If anyone knows Dave Cassidy, they will know that he doesn't beat around the bush. He just says it. He looks you in the eye and tells you the truth—flat out, as simple as that.
We know the Conservatives view this investment as corporate welfare. They are against our government partnering with labour in a historic fashion to deliver this battery plant for Windsor. It's historic—$15 billion. It's partnering, by the way, not just with labour but also with industry and the provincial government. It's remarkable. That's how you get things done. It's when you partner. When you work together and partner, you get things done. That also means partnering with our Korean partners.
I also believe the Conservatives are against this investment because they don't believe in climate change. They don't believe in electric vehicles. They don't support our battery plant. They never once said they support the battery plant—not once in two years have they said it. They've had plenty of opportunity. They've had plenty to say; they've just never said that. They've never supported our battery plant investment.
They also believe our electric vehicle battery plant is a direct threat to the entire existence of the present Conservative Party. They're against the belief we hold: that you need to have an environmental plan to have an economic plan. When you have an environmental plan, you have an economic plan and create jobs. That's what the battery plant in Windsor illustrates clearly to the rest of the world.
Finally, the battery plant in Windsor is a direct threat to the Conservatives because it undermines their entire narrative that Canada is broken. If Canada were broken, we wouldn't have a $6-billion battery plant investment in Windsor, a $10-billion battery plant investment in St. Thomas, a $7-billion battery investment in Quebec, a $1-billion battery investment in British Columbia, and so on and so forth. That is $30 billion in investment in Canada in the auto sector. We've never seen such investment in the auto sector in three short years. It's incredible—Oshawa, Ingersoll, St. Thomas. It's up and down the 401. It's in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
We're building this industry from scratch. That's why we need partners. We talk about partnership a lot. That's why we need to partner with the experts. LG has been building batteries for 30 years. They're coming here to share their expertise and knowledge with us.
I was speaking with Mr. Danies Lee from NextStar. He said, “Irek, we have families. We left family in Korea. We left our communities. We left our homes, and—”