Industry and Technology Committee on May 4th, 2026

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

First and foremost, when it comes to forced labour, we will address that through legislation, period. My colleague who is in charge of public safety is in charge of the CBSA, and they need to do their job first.

Second, when it comes to protecting our auto workers—because I think that's your point—our auto workers are protected in this deal, because there are three conditions for any joint ventures with Chinese auto companies: first, labour standards; second, making sure that we protect our localized supply chains; and third, the entire security of the software.

We have an entire approach that is very holistic that will protect our auto workers while bringing in really good technologies. At the same time, what we want is affordability. I know that the Conservative Party, like the Liberal Party and like the Bloc Québécois.... We're all in favour of affordability. These cars will be affordable.

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

I hope you're right, because as you know, the Americans have threatened a 25% tariff on all goods if they find that a country such as ours is importing with slave labour—

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

No, I think that when it comes to the Americans, dear colleague, we don't need to—

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

We're quite concerned that these actions are going to allow it to get worse, but I'll go to my last question, if I may.

Regarding security concerns, I know that you're also familiar with how electric vehicles, like other vehicles, are able to have a lot of our data, like our GPS location. They sync with our phones. Are you comfortable with the Chinese government having access to that information from, say, you, if you drove one of these?

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

As for the security of software, my colleague, the Minister of Transport is working on a regulatory framework when it comes to protecting people's data in their cars. I'll make sure that I work with him to improve that regulatory framework and also protect Canadians, and—

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

That needs to be done before we've brought them in, though.

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

I just wanted to answer the question regarding the threats by the Americans to our auto workers. We won't accept them and we won't be threatened, period.

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

It's not just our auto workers. It's all of our goods.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thank you, Madam Dancho.

Mr. Bains, the floor is yours for five minutes, sir.

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for joining us today and for all your hard work in navigating this difficult time of the trade war.

My question is around aluminum. As you know, it's very important to British Columbia, my home province, and to manufacturing companies. It's a critical input for aerospace, shipbuilding and, of course, the drone program that's soon going to be assembled in Richmond, British Columbia, and is coming up in the next month.

Can you expand on how our new buy Canada policy can support B.C. aluminum integration, not just for major projects, but for the critical sectors I've mentioned?

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

I think we can be extremely proud of the work that is being done by aluminum workers in Kitimat, B.C. The Rio Tinto infrastructure is iconic and, I must say, extremely important for the entire west coast of North America.

We've been working with—and I've been in close touch with—the CEO of Rio Tinto, as he's in charge of the Kitimat and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean investments. As a Quebecker, I'm fond of aluminum products because they come from my province, and I'm also happy to know that Quebec and B.C. share this in common.

That being said, you're indeed right. Our investments in defence will be helpful for the aerospace sector. When I was in your province, I went to Cascade, which is an important IMP-owned company that is key for our country, and particularly for western Canada. I went also to the De Havilland facility on Vancouver Island, which is quite something, and we're seeing that their book of business is going to be increased because of our investments.

We need to land good investments in B.C. for the defence sector, and I'm convinced that by really increasing the demand for airplanes—planes made in Canada—we will be able to support our aluminum workers even more, because we know that aluminum is key to the aerospace sector. Our buy Canada policy, as you were mentioning, is going to be at work.

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

We are seeing some resilience. I know that Statistics Canada data showed Canada's GDP grew by 0.2% in quarter one, led by the manufacturing sector. It expanded to 1.8%, the largest gain since January 2023.

While we work towards a renewed CUSMA deal, and we had an announcement today, could you maybe talk a bit about the support for Canadian manufacturers as they adapt and seek new markets?

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

I referred to that a bit earlier in my answers. It was a $1.5-billion announcement: $1 billion for the BDC and $500 million for the regional development agencies. Obviously, in your part of the world in B.C., it's PacifiCan.

We will be announcing later this week the allocation across the sector and across the country. Of course, PrairiesCan and PacifiCan will get their fair share. I'm looking forward to working with my colleague Gregor Robertson, who is in charge of PacifiCan, and with you, to make sure that we protect the aluminum workers in B.C.

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

I'm going to shift very quickly to EVs for a bit. In my city, we have the largest auto mall. I've met with car dealers, and they're interested in having some stability in what they can sell. They're really excited about some of the announcements about the EVs.

One in four new cars sold worldwide is an EV. British Columbia is probably one of the leaders for EVs, as you know. Why is Canada well positioned to take advantage of this global trend?

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

It's because we have the best auto workers in the world. When you look at Honda and Toyota, their plants in Canada are at the same level of predictability as their plants in Japan. We can be proud of that. Because they've been extremely productive, Honda and Toyota have decided to invest even more. They've increased their production since the beginning of the trade war, and they're more than 75% of our entire auto production. That's good.

At the same time, we believe that we need to invest even more in electrification. We know that we have to increase our grid. That's why we're working on an electricity strategy.

We also know that we need to have more charging stations across the country. We've been working with some players in the U.S. and Europe to make major investments here in Canada. When I say “players”, I mean private players, private companies”. Of course, we've put in our auto strategy $1.5 billion, through the Canada Infrastructure Bank, to invest in EV charging stations. That's going to be good news for people in B.C., who are very fond of EVs.

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thanks, Mr. Bains.

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

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

Thank you.

Minister, this morning's announcements concern direct exporters. My question is about indirect exporters.

We learned during committee meetings that exporters' suppliers are often the ones affected by the 25% tariffs. If exports decline, exporters buy fewer products from their suppliers. Are there any support measures for those suppliers?

If you don't have the answer right now, that's fine. You can send it to us later.

Is the Business Development Bank of Canada's loan program available now?

As for the forestry industry loan program announced in August, we asked you about it all fall, before the program became available. Access isn't expected until December, even though the situation is urgent.

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

First, in order for companies to be eligible for financing, we require that at least 20% of their revenue come from sectors related to metals—specifically steel, aluminum, and copper. Twenty per cent of their revenue must be related to this type of activity. In addition, there must be a 10% impact from tariffs. There are therefore two conditions to be met.

Second, I would say that we learned lessons from what happened last fall. At that time, we worked with the Business Development Bank of Canada. BDC provided loan guarantees to banks, and banks then offered the loans. The process was long—too long—arduous, and frustrating. Furthermore, collaborating with the banking system proved difficult. That is why we decided to change the approach and deal directly with the Business Development Bank of Canada. We wanted things to move faster, because the government wanted to be able to provide assistance quickly.

These aren't loan guarantees; they're interest-free loans, which are quite favourable. They can be deployed quickly, which will be done through regional economic development agencies. Last fall, we honestly saw that the Regional Tariff Response Initiative for regional economic development agencies was very popular. That is why we have rolled out the program again.

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

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ben Carr]

Thank you, Mr. Ste-Marie.

Mr. Falk, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you, Minister. It's always good to have you here at committee.

I have a few fairly easy questions.

Back in February, you indicated that the EV mandate had been paused and would be repealed. On what day will it be repealed?

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

The EV mandate....

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Yes.

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

We said that we were not continuing with the EV mandate. That's part of the auto strategy. There is no EV mandate.