Evidence of meeting #11 for Industry and Technology in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was workers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
Yes, 100%.
You said Canada's your home and that you're a “proud part of Canada's automotive story”.
Can you be clear and tell me what you think about the tariffs? Should President Trump rescind the tariffs? Should he stop his attacks on Canada? Are the tariffs against our auto sector a bad idea?
President, Stellantis
I would say this: From our perspective, clearly, clarity on trade policy helps us invest in the short term, mid term and long term.
The unknown—
Liberal
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
Forget about clarity for a moment. You said you're a “proud part of Canada's automotive story” and you want to be a big part of our future. You said that Canada is “not just a market...it's a home.”
It should be easy to say tariffs on Canada's auto sector are a terrible idea.
Can you say it with me?
President, Stellantis
What I will say is my own words, not yours, if you'd be so kind to allow me to continue and say my own. I do think Canada is our home. We have been here for 100 years. We are continuing to invest in Canada and want to continue to do so.
Certainly, we want a policy that works for our manufacturing footprint in Canada so we can continue to grow and continue to expand.
Liberal
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
Let's talk about a policy that would support workers in Brampton.
You said you're “committed to...employees at Brampton”. You said that just today. In answers to other questions, you've said that you've seen a couple of options you can't disclose with any specificity.
Give me a timeline. When can workers expect you to honour your commitments?
President, Stellantis
It goes back to when we have economic certainty. When we have trade certainty, it certainly allows us to make an informed decision.
Right now, we don't have that trade certainty, and it's not just a Stellantis concern—
Liberal
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
It sounds like the commitment is contingent on something entirely out of your control. It doesn't sound like a firm commitment at all.
Hundreds of millions of federal dollars—before even talking about provincial dollars in Ontario—have been committed to that Brampton facility. Specifically, over $100 million has actually flowed.
What do you see as your obligations to the Canadian taxpayer and to the public?
President, Stellantis
I'm clearly appreciative of all the support we've gotten from both the Canadian government and the Ontario provincial government.
Our idea, our plan and our strategy—
Liberal
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
Your obligation is appreciation?
What do you see as your obligation to the Brampton facility based on taxpayer dollars? I don't care if you appreciate it. What's your obligation?
President, Stellantis
We want to make sure that we provide for those employees. That's what I mentioned earlier. We want to give them the first chance to go to Windsor. That's a new employment opportunity they can take advantage of.
In the short term, while we have such uncertainty today, we want to try to continue the benefits they've accumulated. No, it's not the same as they would have at the Windsor opportunity; we want to try to take care of the employees as best we can, but we need some economic certainty in order to make those decisions.
Liberal
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
As we wait for economic certainty, can we expect you to repay the money?
President, Stellantis
We're certainly committed to helping our employees as best we can. We want to continue with all of the commitments that we've made. It starts with getting something that works in the trade so we can continue to expand at Brampton and continue the other expansion that I mentioned earlier.
Liberal
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
What I have heard, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that Canada's your home, but you're abandoning thousands of workers.
What I've heard is you've accepted hundreds of millions of dollars in commitments, including over $100 million specifically that has flowed for Brampton, but you have no intention of honouring your commitments to workers there except with some vague possibility of jobs once you get economic certainty, and you won't say that tariffs on the auto sector here in Canada are a bad idea.
President, Stellantis
It's certainly economically challenging; there's no doubt. Again, it's not just Stellantis. It's the industry in total.
We certainly need to come to some resolution sooner rather than later. We do want to make sure we help our employees and talk about the commitments we made to them, and we want to continue with the potential of additional products that, in my mind, could work better than the previous plan.
Liberal
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette—Manawan, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Hines, did Stellantis sign an agreement with the union that it would commit to producing the Jeep Compass model at the Brampton plant?
President, Stellantis
Originally, the plan was to produce the Jeep Compass. That was the plan.
Obviously, given the market dynamics that really started nine months ago or so, it's very challenging to bring that to market, and that's why the adjustments were made.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette—Manawan, QC
I'll ask my question again.
Did you sign an agreement with the union in 2023 regarding the assembly of the Jeep Compass model in Brampton?
President, Stellantis
The original agreement was to build a Jeep Compass at the Brampton facility.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette—Manawan, QC
Thank you for that clarification.
As you told us, it was the changes in the situation, the tariffs and the overall situation that caused you to change your decision.
If conditions changed, if the U.S. president suspended his tariffs or if they were overturned by the U.S. courts, would you reverse your decision so that the Jeep Compass model could be built at the Brampton plant?
President, Stellantis
We fully support some level of certainty from a trade front. That would be welcome news to not only Stellantis but the auto industry in general, and obviously the Canadian auto industry in total.
We want to continue our expansion of Brampton as we committed to. As it stands today, I think the other products that I mentioned as possibilities are a better fit for Canada and a better fit for Brampton than what we had previously. But the first thing we need—and I'll go back to it again—is some trade certainty and some level of agreement, so we can continue to move forward.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette—Manawan, QC
It's very clear; we agree on that.
Does the U.S. site offer Stellantis any new incentives, subsidies or possible deductions? Does the State of Illinois or the federal government provide any benefits to Stellantis for the assembly of the Jeep Compass model?
President, Stellantis
I have not seen those agreements. Again, I'm here in Canada, so I can't answer that question. Respectfully, if I could, I would, but I don't have that answer.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette—Manawan, QC
If you are able to verify the information with your American colleagues, could you provide us with an answer in writing? We would appreciate that.
I think that's my time.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
