Industry and Technology Committee on April 20th, 2026

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

Thank you so much.

Mr. Lewis will take the rest of my time.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

My first question is a follow-up from the last round. It's for Mr. Jebely.

I've heard you say, I guess in a roundabout way, that this isn't just about automotive. This is so much larger than only automotive.

I've heard a lot of this. It might even affect, as silly as it might sound—but it's not silly—kitty litter boxes, moulded garbage pails, bins that you buy at Home Depot and all of those things.

This is my question for you: Is there anybody from the United States who can pick up the pieces to continue the entire industry, or does the United States wildly need Canadian manufacturers—mould-makers, tool and die, and auto manufacturers—to keep them going sustainably?

[Cyrus Jebely]

There is no immediate replacement in the U.S. for Canadian companies. If the business relationship between Canada and the U.S. comes to an end or stops, the companies in the U.S. most likely are going to go to Asia because of the cost. That would be the sad reality. It's not that they want to, but they don't really have a choice. It's that or they are trying to convince Canadian companies to move to the U.S.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you. I have just under one minute left. I'll go back to Mr. Vander Park for one moment, please.

I really do appreciate the conversation. Across the table, everybody spoke about uncertainty. You talked about stability.

I have about 30 seconds. How long can your company sustain itself under these current 232 tariffs?

[Chris Vander Park]

I can't speak on the cash flow or the dollars and cents. All I can tell you is that the sales team's uncertainty can't sell a tool.

I use the analogy of the car. Keep being the dealership that raises prices 15% every time and you can't sell the car. That uncertainty causes no stability in our business. It doesn't matter if it's the person next to me or our competition, there's no stability. We don't know what it looks like. We don't know where tomorrow will be. We need help.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thanks very much, Mr. Lewis and Ms. Borrelli.

Ms. O'Rourke, the floor is yours for five minutes.

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

Mr. Vander Park and all of the witnesses today, we came to this meeting with the full intention of a non-partisan conversation because I think all of government is seized with what you're facing. You said that you negotiate in good faith with your customers. I think Canada also negotiates in good faith with its American counterparts. That partner is not acting in good faith.

Mr. Jebely, you said that at the stroke of a pen, it's all changed. We all know whose pen that is, so I would invite us to collaborate to find solutions for you and your workers.

I represent the riding of Guelph, where advanced manufacturing is 16,500 jobs, so I'm totally with you. De tout cœur is what we say in French. We all want the stability. We need a deal that will be a good deal and a deal that is respected by our American counterparts. We all want the same thing.

I'm curious to know, are you working with FedDev and looking at large liquidity loans, the strategic investment fund and the regional tariff relief initiative? They're all things that were brought in a year ago and have been entrenched in budget 2025. Are any of those tools useful?

If so, great. If not, what other tools would you need immediately? We'll go to bat for you. What would you need in the medium term?

[Diane Ricci Woodiwiss]

We have looked into FedDev. I believe they have a project that will expire or be paused on May 1. We're looking into that.

If there's anything that would help with wages, that would be one thing, but unfortunately, this hurts our customer base. We're losing our customer base. It's so difficult to have to rebuild. If our orders are going to China, it's difficult to win back that work. We need some kind of immediate action now that will help us.

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

I'll ask you to clarify what that looks like. Do you have evidence from the past couple of weeks that the orders are going to China? We all want to avoid that. What does that help look like?

[Diane Ricci Woodiwiss]

As Chris said before, right now we have some work in progress. We're working. We are keeping our employees employed. We're working away. It's just unclear. We don't know what's coming up. When tariffs were first introduced in February 2025, it took six weeks to get a customer purchase order. Is that going to happen again after all of this work in process gets cleaned up and shipped off? I'm not sure.

Everything is so uncertain. Nothing's clear. It's difficult to say what will help us in six weeks when we don't know right now.

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

I'll cede my time to MP Bardeesy.

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

Mr. Vander Park, you wanted to jump in. Then I'll ask my question.

[Chris Vander Park]

I was just going to say that this is so new that we don't know the impact yet.

The FedDev money is there. It's great. A loan doesn't help us, because if we don't have work, we can't pay a loan. FedDev was paused last Friday. It has been extended. Thank you for that. We are looking at some stuff there, but to say there's an answer, I just don't have it for you right now. The uncertainty behind....

Diane, it totally went past my mind that we didn't get a PO for six weeks in February last year, in 2025, when the tariffs were announced. That's six weeks. We get 10 POs a week.

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

I have a question or remark for Mr. Jebely.

It was really impactful that you shared the extent of the sectors your company serves. Do you think there's an awareness among the public, who are the end-users of those products, of where you sit in that?

[Cyrus Jebely]

There's very little. Do you mean awareness for the products or what we actually do as an industry?

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

Yes, the products.

[Cyrus Jebely]

There's very little. That awareness is not where it should be.

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

I just wanted to say, on behalf of the government members on this side, that today we have heard you and the earlier panel. This is very serious. We're hearing from the concrete evidence that you've provided some very specific things that we can take back, with our colleagues here across the floor and within government.

We know that this is a three-meeting study, but we intend to be championing the very measures that can help in the immediate, while being mindful that we simply don't have control of the tools on the far end that are making this so difficult. For everything that is not across the table with the United States, we're going to work very hard to make sure we can support you during this very difficult time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thanks very much, Mr. Bardeesy.

Colleagues, I am going to use my prerogative as chair for a brief moment to ask a question.

Mr. Vander Park, I'll direct it to you.

The purpose of a tariff, ostensibly, is to reduce costs for the domestic consumer. In this case, that's in the United States. What will these tariffs, based on the discussions you've had with your American counterparts, do to the cost of these products for them? It would seem to me that what will likely occur is that they're going to stop getting it from you, which might be higher quality and might be cheaper value. It's going to become exclusively American if we continue to see the drop that you're talking about in your forecasts, and then it won't be long before those prices go up.

Can you speak very briefly about whether the decision by the administration in the United States is going to have a positive or negative impact on the American consumer?

[Chris Vander Park]

Our obvious main commodity in injection mould is steel. We purchase mill-direct. There's a mill in Sorel, Quebec. There's a mill in Chicago, and there's a mill in Pennsylvania. The price of steel since the tariff announcements—from February 2025 to the steel tariffs—has gone up by 25%. The price of the moulds have gone up by 25%. It's exactly as you were saying: The U.S. price is going to go up to the point where the tariffs don't do anything. How long does that take? I can't tell you. You have it dead on the money: It's counterproductive.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

My hope certainly would be that our American friends and counterparts will be able to help tell that story about why it is that free trade is beneficial to both sides of the border.

Witnesses, thank you very much for making yourselves available to us. As I said to the previous panel, we understand that it's a very difficult time personally and professionally, not only for you and your organizations but also for those whose livelihoods are dependent upon your success. We appreciate the insight that you've lent to us here. If there is more information that you would like to have the committee take into consideration, you are always welcome to provide that information through the clerk. We will be happy to review it.

Witnesses, at this time, I'm going to let you go. We have a couple of very small pieces of committee business that we have to deal with very quickly. Again, thank you for making yourselves available to us.

Colleagues, here is one quick thing. We've done this before. Because we have these three meetings, we just have to pass a budget. Remember that these are very high predictions and not what we're actually going to spend. We have a quote of $21,500. We won't be anywhere near that. We just need approval to have that room.

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

I see unanimous consent. We're going to call that budget approved.

Mr. Guglielmin, it's unusual for me to grant the floor following proceedings, but I understand you have a question you want to ask me, so I will permit you an opportunity to do that.

[Michael Guglielmin, Conservative, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would just like you to update the committee. On March 12, we passed a motion to have the Minister of Industry appear here on both the main and supplementary estimates for two hours. We were going to report the votes back to the House by March 26. That time has come and gone. I'm just wondering if you could update the committee on the minister's appearance.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

It just so happens that I can, Mr. Guglielmin.

There are a couple of things. The first to note is that, unfortunately, Minister Solomon is going to have to reschedule that May 4 appearance. However, his absence provides the ability for Minister Joly to appear. We have two dates on two separate issues that she'll be appearing on. The first confirmed by her office is the minister and her officials from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on May 4 in relation to our EV study. Then, a few weeks later, on May 25 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Minister Joly, again with her officials, will appear to discuss the main estimates and the subject matter of the supplementary estimates (C).

Does that answer your question, Mr. Guglielmin?