Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I felt compelled to come here and provide a bit of important context to the discussion we're having today.
The Stellantis battery plant is located in my riding. It is located, in fact, steps away from my home. I get a chance every single day to see this incredible battery plant rising from the ground. It represents tremendous hope for our community.
Eight years ago, our community had 11.2% unemployment. This was under the Conservative government. This was when the leader of the current Conservative opposition was the minister of employment. We had 11.2% in my community. Unemployment for young people was in the high 20%. Young people were leaving our community because they had no hope. There were no jobs. We had families leaving for Alberta because there were no jobs. We had stores that were shuttered and businesses that were closed. Those were dark times, Mr. Chair.
This is the most important investment in the history of my community. This is a future for my community. This is hope for my community. It is important that when we speak about it, we speak in facts, not politics or games—facts. There is so much riding on this battery plant.
Let me provide you with some facts.
There are 900 workers building the battery plant as we speak, representing all the trades: LiUNA, millwrights, operators, sheet metal workers—you name it. They're all Canadian, and the vast majority are from Windsor. There will be two and a half thousand Canadian workers in total building that plant. When the plant is operational, there will be two and a half thousand workers building two million batteries every year. Those two and a half thousand workers will be local. They will be Canadian. That was confirmed when I spoke this morning with the president of Unifor Local 444, Dave Cassidy. He confirmed there will be two and a half thousand workers, and that they will be local and Canadian.
Yes, there will be Korean workers coming to Canada to help with the installation of the equipment. Anyone who has ever set foot in a factory or has been part of a manufacturing town like mine will realize very quickly that this is normal. When a Canadian company like CenterLine, for example, or Valiant from Windsor, sells a product or machine to Alabama, you have Canadian workers travelling there to help with the installation of the equipment, especially because some of that equipment is proprietary, and especially during the warranty period. It's just something that happens in manufacturing.
At the same time, we know some Korean workers will move to Windsor, because they will be working with Canadian and local workers building the batteries. Why? It's because this is a new industry. This is a brand new industry we are trying to build from scratch. This is the first battery plant in Canada. We don't have the full expertise. That's why we will rely on a partnership with our Korean partners, who have been building batteries for 30 years. LG is the world leader in batteries. They have 24,000 patents on the construction of batteries. We will need them because we will be competing with every other battery manufacturer in the world. We have to get this right, because everything is riding on it.
The two and a half thousand workers building batteries will be Canadian and local.
I understand that the EV sector is a threat to the Conservatives. I understand that. It's because they don't believe in climate change. It's also because the EV battery plant would demonstrate that having an environmental plan means being successful economically. More specifically, it means jobs for communities like mine.