Industry and Technology Committee on Nov. 3rd, 2025

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

—is over 647,000 Canadian families, who had to work an entire year for your government to provide up to $11 billion. There is no explicit jobs guarantee anywhere here—

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

That's not true. You're putting words into my mouth—

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

—so it's just quite disappointing that you're not giving a commitment of whether there is a 3,000—

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

—which I don't agree with, and you're also not being true to the contract. The contract runs until 2032, so, you know, the math doesn't work.

MP Dancho, stop playing politics. The goal right now is to protect the workers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Colleagues, that's enough.

I am going to be generous here.

Mr. Seeback, I'm going to give you an opportunity, because I believe MP Dancho was hoping to share some time with you. There is no time left. I am going to be generous and provide you the opportunity for a question, and I ask that you allow the minister to respond in full to that question. Then we're going to continue.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Great.

Minister, I know you're aware that Oshawa lost a shift of 700 jobs. They went to the United States for production there. The Oshawa plant makes light-duty trucks and heavy-duty trucks. Are you aware that GM is now retooling an abandoned EV plant in Orion Township, Michigan, to manufacture light-duty trucks starting in Q1 of 2027?

I spoke to Unifor auto workers this morning about this. They want to know if you will guarantee today that they will not lose their jobs and that those jobs will not be transferred to the United States, just like what happened at the Brampton Stellantis plant. Will you guarantee it today?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I think this was about Stellantis. I will answer, of course, discussions linked to GM.

In the case of Oshawa, the third shift is here until January, and we're fighting for it and having conversations with Stellantis to make sure that we're able to keep it, as well as keep production in St. Catharines and bring back production to Ingersoll. I will continue to push, because I think what is going on at GM is completely unacceptable.

That said, I think what is happening at GM and what is happening at Stellantis are two different decisions, because there was a clear commitment on the part of Stellantis before the Canadian government to make sure that there would be a facility that would be working on the Jeep Compass at Stellantis in Brampton.

When it comes to the third shift, we'll continue to make sure we put pressure on GM. I will be having conversations with Mary Barra. Unifor has also been having conversations with GM, and we will be united. I've also met with the Oshawa workers and Unifor, and I'll make sure that they can keep their jobs.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thank you, Mr. Seeback.

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

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Mr. Ste‑Marie, you have the floor.

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

I just want to remind my colleagues that multiple people speaking at once makes the interpreters' job difficult and can even cause injuries.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

I completely agree. Thank you, Mr. Ste‑Marie.

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

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, there was quite an involved exchange, and it involved some of the crosstalk that Monsieur Ste-Marie mentioned. I was wondering if the minister wanted to conclude any remarks that she hadn't had the chance to make with respect to Stellantis in that earlier exchange.

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

Why don't you give her your time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Colleagues, I think we're starting to get off track a bit. Let's get back to the reason we're here, which is to ask the minister questions.

Ms. Acan, you have the floor for five minutes. I hope we can keep ourselves on track a little better than we did in the last round.

The floor is yours.

[Sima Acan, Liberal, Oakville West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for appearing here today.

We are studying how we can continue to defend the interests of Canadian workers and strengthen our auto industry. That's why I will focus my questions on investments and the value chain.

When we talk about the auto sector today, we have to think beyond the final assembly line. We have to look at the entire vehicle value chain, from the mining and refining of critical minerals to component manufacturing, better production and final vehicle assembly. Canada is uniquely positioned to connect every part of the value chain through partnerships with industry, labour and government, which are working together to keep production and innovation here in Canada.

I would like to highlight that in my riding of Oakville West, we are already seeing this value chain taking shape. Last year, Dana Canada Corporation received about $3 million in federal funding through NGen, Canada's global innovation cluster for advanced manufacturing, which is supported by ISED. This funding will help Dana modernize its manufacturing, design better cooling technology for electric vehicles and improve performance and efficiency.

Could you please talk to us about recent investments in the sector, particularly in EVs? How do investments like this one in Dana Canada fit into Canada's broader plan to build a complete EV value chain, position Canada in North America's EV supply chain for decades to come and also help us to stay competitive?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

When you look at the global industry in general, you see that there's been a leapfrogging. We know that other countries, particularly in Asia, have been able to come up with affordable vehicles with new technology, and we know that these different vehicles are now being sold around the world. The North American market has been much more linked to exporting within NAFTA territory, meaning Canada, the U.S and Mexico, and we made sure, through the last negotiations, that we would be protecting our market.

What we saw at the time was that we needed to invest more in the EV sector, because that's where the global demand was going, but it was also in reaction to what former president Biden was doing with his own Inflation Reduction Act, the IRA. We made big investments at the time because they were in line with what other jurisdictions were doing.

We also had an advantage that many other jurisdictions didn't have: We had access to green, affordable electricity. That is why we were able, working with the Government of Ontario, to attract investments into the EV sector, including, obviously, in your riding of Oakville.

It was not only to bring the big Stellantis and LG plant to Windsor—we'll just call it NextStar—and it was not only St. Thomas and Volkswagen. It was also linked to investments in Bécancour, Quebec, and it was having impacts across the supply chain for small and medium-sized businesses. It was a strategy that made sense.

The 25% tariffs against Canadian vehicles now are really hurting, obviously, but it's not only that: The end of the Inflation Reduction Act also had an impact on the auto sector. What we're coping with right now is that the industry, at the world level, is going much more toward EVs; meanwhile, the North American market is not necessarily at the same pace. That is also why we paused the EV mandates, and I'm convinced I will get questions on that. It was because we wanted to be pragmatic.

That's why we're trying to do two things right now—protect the jobs that are under threat and create new ones, and at the same time be at the forefront of the competitiveness of our sector, knowing that we have lots of really great resources, ranging from everything that is linked to the components of the batteries, because of the rare earths and the critical minerals, up to having access to affordable green electricity to create the vehicles and assemble them.

That's what I'm trying to do. It's not to be ideological but to be pragmatic and support the jobs at Honda and Toyota—and by the way, 70% of their production is in our country—while making sure that I can continue to retain the jobs from the D3 of Stellantis, Ford and GM.

That's what I'm doing right now, and I look forward to working with you.

[Sima Acan, Liberal, Oakville West, ON]

Thank you so much, Minister.

Based on the value chain again, Dana is a very good example. They're partnering with KA Imaging in Waterloo on their modernizing project. That kind of cross-regional collaboration between Ontario's manufacturing base and Waterloo's tech sector really reflects Canada's innovation ecosystem.

Would you agree that projects like this show how federal innovation programs are reaching every part of the country—not just the big automakers but the suppliers and also the technology leaders that make the whole system work? What is the Ontario government's reaction to those moves?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Please give a quick answer, Minister Joly.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I was at Martinrea on Thursday. We know that when it comes to the companies in Canada, we're very strong with auto parts companies also.

We have global companies—Linamar, Martinrea, Magna—that are huge companies that have a significant footprint, not only across the GTA and across southwestern Ontario, but also across the U.S. and Mexico and in Europe. We will work with them, but we very much know that they also support other small companies.

That's why, when I think about what's going on in the sector and this Brampton Stellantis problem, I know that if we don't fight that battle and win it, the sector is at stake. That's why I'm putting maximum pressure. I can't be more clear about this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thank you, Ms. Acan.

Mr. Ste‑Marie, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister Joly, I have two quick questions.

First, when major employers anticipate significant job losses, they usually inform the government—particularly the Department of Employment and Social Development—so that the employment insurance system receives advance notice. Was this done?

I'll ask you my second question right away. Stellantis is talking about another plan for Brampton. Has it submitted this plan to you? Is it acceptable? If this still hasn't been done, are you fighting to bring back the Jeep Compass production?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I received a call from the president of Stellantis Canada less than 24 hours before the announcement. That in itself was a problem. At the time, I had a visceral reaction. That's the first thing. We were presented with a fait accompli, even though the contracts were clear and we had already told the various automakers that we could help them get through the crisis.

You must also understand that, at this time, the tariffs can significantly affect the cost of selling cars in Canada, which is inevitably tied to manufacturing costs. Most of these cars are exported to the United States. I had already had conversations about this issue with the presidents of various Canadian automakers. I told them that we have a fund to help the automotive sector and that we'll put money on the table to help them get through this crisis.

That's why I had such a strong reaction. Stellantis made this decision without necessarily consulting the Government of Canada and without even looking at the options already on the table.

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

Thank you.

Since I have only two and a half minutes, I'll ask you this question quickly. Regarding the Jeep Compass, has Stellantis given you another plan for the Brampton plant?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

That's the issue. It still hasn't done so. As a result, starting today, we're launching the dispute resolution process set out in the contract. We're giving it 30 days to come back to us with a plan to restore production in Brampton.