Industry and Technology Committee on Oct. 29th, 2025

[Dominique O'Rourke, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

That's great.

I have a last question, Mr. Hines. Clearly, everyone's been rocked by these unfair, unjustified tariffs from the United States over the last nine months. Going back in history, going back five years, how would you describe the soundness of these investments because of the quality of our workforce and because of the quality of Canadian automakers? Would you say that these investments were in line with global trends and that they were contributing to the efficiency of the production facilities?

[Jeff Hines]

I would say that they were a large part of the former FCA, going back five years ago, and now Stellantis. They were a large part of our operations and a great workforce across our Canadian footprint. They were a big part of our success over the last five years and much longer than that, as I've said. It's a certain element of Canada that's been a great big part of our collective business over many years.

[Dominique O'Rourke, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Do you have an idea of the timeline of when we will be able to hear what's next for Brampton, to give those families some hope?

[Jeff Hines]

I wish I could give a definitive timeline, but as you can imagine, the situation today is so fluid. With the uncertainty in regard to our current trade situation and our current economic environment, I cannot give a timeline of when that would happen. I do know this: The sooner we can come to some clarity on the trade situation and the current economic environment that we're all living in, the sooner we can make those announcements and the sooner we can work with that plan with our union colleagues, our workers at Brampton and the federal government as well.

[Dominique O'Rourke, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

I certainly hope we can count on you to stay in Canada, sir, and to continue to create opportunities for auto workers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thank you.

Mr. Ste‑Marie, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, Mr. Hines. Thank you very much for your participation in this very important study that our committee is undertaking.

Make no mistake: We are very concerned. U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants to move auto manufacturing jobs back to the United States. He's doing so by imposing tariffs and waging a trade war. At the same time, we've learned that your company is going to move production of the Jeep Compass model from Ontario to Illinois. We've also learned that you're going to invest billions of dollars in the United States. As parliamentarians, we're concerned about the erosion of the auto industry in Canada and in Ontario.

When did you inform the Canadian government of your decision to move production of the Jeep Compass model from Ontario to Illinois?

[Jeff Hines]

The official announcement to the Canadian government was done at about the same time we announced to the world. It was done slightly prior to that. I will say that we did have additional conversations on some of the challenges we faced across the board, going back many months prior.

To go back to your comments on the commitment to Ontario and the commitment to the Canadian automotive footprint, we want to be in Canada. We have had a great, strong history in Canada. We've added roughly 2,500 jobs between what we have done coming in at Windsor and what we've done with our battery plant as well. Then there's the additional engineering jobs that we brought to our research and development side here.

We are committed to Canada. We want to maintain our presence in Canada. We have a great history, and we want to continue to build on that history.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Can you guarantee, here and now, that Stellantis won't reduce its operations or its number of employees in Canada?

[Jeff Hines]

What I can say is this: We are fully committed to Canada. That's why we're going through hiring processes now for the additional jobs in Windsor that I mentioned. The production there will start in February, so it's not that far away. We are committed to continuing that expansion. We are committed to working and expanding our battery plant. We are committed to Canada, and we want to continue to do that. Given the uncertainty of the trade situation today, it's obviously a very fluid situation that we're all dealing with, but we would like to, we want to, continue our expansions and our business in Canada.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Thank you for your answer, but I have to say that it worries me a great deal.

I understand that many businesses are facing uncertainty in the current economic climate, including the automotive industry. You want to continue your activities, and you'd like the number of jobs to be maintained or increased, as was estimated or forecasted, but today, you aren't able to tell us that you'll maintain the same level of activity, jobs and growth. That's what I understand from your answer. Obviously, I think that should concern all my colleagues here.

In terms of the project—

[Jeff Hines]

To be clear, we are looking only at expanding. That's why the additional jobs that I just mentioned...we're working through. We are not looking to shrink our footprint. In fact, it's quite the opposite, with the addition of the 1,500 jobs and a third shift at Windsor. We're not doing that for the short term: We want to maintain that for the long term. We're looking increase our employee footprint from what we have today.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Thank you for those clarifications; that's more reassuring.

Regarding the plan to build the Jeep Compass model in Ontario, how much public assistance was allocated or what incentives were promised by the federal government to upgrade the Brampton plant? How do you assess the impact of this relocation on federal government investments? What happened to what was promised?

[Jeff Hines]

What we are working towards and want to continue to work and collaborate on, with both our union colleagues and the government, is a way forward at Brampton that meets the commitments we all collectively made and has the potential to be a product—which would not be the Jeep Compass, as was originally planned, that's true, but something else—that we think would fit the current environment better than the Jeep Compass would today.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

What were the main factors that led you to move production of the Jeep Compass model to the United States?

[Jeff Hines]

It's clear, from our comments, that it's an important segment for North America. It's a large segment, both in Canada and the U.S., and it's something...that we need to get a new product to market in as quickly as we can. The current situation that we are all faced with, and the uncertainty and the changing market dynamics that have happened over the last nine months made that very challenging and difficult, to say the least. Those are the reasons that the company made that decision.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

I have one last very quick question for you, at least in this round of questions.

Had it not been for Donald Trump's tariffs and trade war, would the Jeep Compass model have been produced in Brampton?

[Jeff Hines]

I think there are a lot of market dynamics at play that impacted not only that but the industry in total. Certainly, there were multiple dynamics that did have a large impact. The current situation certainly had an impact.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thank you, Mr. Ste‑Marie.

Ms. Borrelli, you have five minutes..

[Kathy Borrelli, Conservative, Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore, ON]

Chair, before I begin my line of questioning, I'd like to state something for the record. Hours before the official announcement that Stellantis would move production from the Brampton plant to Illinois, the company made robocalls to their employees, informing them that they'd be laid off. These employees, who grew that business and stood by the company, were treated in one of the most shockingly inhumane ways I have ever heard of. For the benefit of this committee and of my colleagues across the table, I would like to ask for unanimous consent to play the robocall that was sent to the employees in Brampton.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Ms. Borrelli, I'll stop the clock for a moment. The challenge with this is that, unless you have appropriate translation that's been provided in advance and an opportunity for members to hear the video or the audio that you're referencing, it makes it quite challenging. I have to uphold respect for both official languages, first and foremost. I'm not sure that the quality of that audio, without having tested it, is going to be something we can work with.

I might recommend that, should that be of importance to your moving forward, it's a conversation you can have with our colleagues around the table. If there is agreement to move forward with it, then we would take the necessary steps in order to ensure that it were brought to the quality that's necessary.

Is this on a point of order, Madam Dancho?

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Yes. We do have a translated copy of the transcript, so we can provide that to the committee members right now. Again, I think this is to make the point that the president hears what the workers had to hear, Mr. Chair. It's a fairly simple audio. I think the workers would appreciate the president and the members of this committee knowing what was said to them when they were laid off, when 3,000 families heard that news. I would ask just you to reconsider. We have the French transcripts that we can provide to everyone. I think it would do right by workers to ensure that this is on the record.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Just give me one minute to confer with the clerk. It's an unusual request. That, in and of itself, doesn't mean that I have to close the door on it, but I need to confer.

My position on this, from the chair's perspective, is that I'm not comfortable with having an audio or video I have not heard or seen, nor the recorded transcript and translation to French.

Having said that, you've asked to seek unanimous consent, so should it be the will of the committee, I'll cede to the will of the committee.

My own view, as just mentioned, is that I have some challenges with this. However, granted that you've sought that unanimous consent, I will look around the table.

This is little bit unconventional. Ms. Borrelli, this is going to eat into your line of questioning. I can't give you your time back.

I'm going to pause here just for a moment in the event that a member wishes to speak to this. Again, this is very unconventional. However, in the spirit of collaboration, I'm willing to grant some time here.

Did you want to speak to this?

[Karim Bardeesy, Liberal, Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Yes, I'll speak to this.

I think I'd be happy, as a member of this committee, to have the transcript read into the record. I think that's an appropriate thing to do.