Debates of Feb. 12th, 2026

Opposition Motion—Automotive Strategy

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claimed that Canada would get things done in speeds not seen before, yet nothing is getting built. Nothing is getting done, and Canadians are losing their jobs.

Why does the Liberal government keep expecting Canadians to wait and take more hits while continuing to vote against Conservative policies that would make a real change?

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is a fantastic question. At the end of the day, it is because Liberals do not get it. They are not on the shop floors. They are not seeing it for what it is. They are not suffering with the folks who are trying to figure out how they are going to pay their bills or put their kids into soccer this year. They do not understand. They are not in the middle of it.

However, they can rest assured that Conservatives will ensure that life gets better.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, let me start by offering my condolences and prayers to the residents of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., for the horrific things that have taken place over the last couple of days. I echo what the Prime Minister, the leader of the Conservative Party and others have expressed in regard to our love and prayers going to the community.

I want to expand on a bit more of a holistic approach to the automobile industry, which has been such a vital part of our manufacturing industry in Canada for many years. In fact, we can go back to Lester Pearson in 1965 and the signing of the auto pact agreement. This is an agreement I have talked about in the past when we were, I believe, the third party and possibly again once we were in government. It was a significant agreement at the time.

Much as Lester Pearson was a visionary looking at the automobile industry back in the sixties, we have a Prime Minister today who has developed a Canada-strong automobile strategy so that we will have a healthy automobile industry in Canada into the future.

Reflecting back to the past, it was not that long ago that I was pumping gas at a Turbo. Looking back to the seventies and the automobile industry back then, there was GM, Ford, Chrysler and American Motors. That was it, the big four in Canada. Those were perceived as the automobile industry.

We know American Motors was consumed by Chrysler, and Chrysler became Stellantis. What we have today are Honda, Toyota, Stellantis, GM and Ford. I think most Canadians would be very surprised about which cars are actually being manufactured in Canada today. Back in the seventies, people talked about not buying imports. Well, Toyota and Honda are actually producing far more cars here in Canada than the other manufacturers combined. It is not to take away anything from the other three, GM and Stellantis and Ford, but the automobile industry has changed over the years.

Today we have a motion from the Conservatives as if they actually know what to do. In reality, members can look at the time when they were in government. They want to isolate the province of Ontario. One of the greatest hits to the industry was when the leader of the Conservative Party sat around in the Conservative caucus when the Ontario manufacturing industry was being decimated.

Listen to what the Conservatives talk about. They ask, how can we give an EV subsidy to American manufacturers? Seriously, do they not understand that we have an integrated automobile industry? Many of the parts used in those EVs across the border are actually manufactured here in Canada and are then brought to the United States and put into many of those electric vehicles. We have an integrated system. For the life of me, I believe the Conservatives just truly do not understand that.

The total number of cars manufactured in Canada today is just over one million; I think it is about 1.3 million or so. In looking at the consumption of vehicles, what Canadians are buying, we see that approximately 10% of Canadians are buying Canadian-made cars. However, there is a great deal of Canadian content in cars being purchased that come in from the United States. I am not going to defend Donald Trump, the United States or their political objectives on the automobile industry, far from that.

Whether it is the Prime Minister or any Liberal member of Parliament, we are very much concerned about the future of the industry, and the workers and their families. We need to see more empathy toward those families and the idea of generational workers into the future. If those workers have sons or daughters who they want to continue on in that industry, we better start thinking about the future and the direction that the industry as a whole is moving toward.

We are going to see substantial increases in the production, directly and indirectly, of EVs. The Conservatives are closing their eyes and ignoring it, as if we do not need to worry about it. Much like Lester Pearson recognized the issue back in 1965, how important it was that we have an auto pact agreement, which literally provided hundreds of thousands of good middle-class jobs and helped build the country we have today, we now have a Prime Minister who is saying we cannot just stand by and do nothing, especially when there is an American president who has been unpredictable. We do not know what the president is going to say tomorrow.

We have to look at ways to expand our economy that go beyond the Canada-U.S.A. border. That is what the Prime Minister, the ministers and members of the Liberal caucus believe we need to do. That is why we have a Prime Minister who has been travelling abroad, bringing literally billions of dollars of investment into Canada and looking at ways we can continue to export. There is no reason we cannot export more of our automobiles being produced in Canada beyond the United States. Today, well over 90% go into the United States.

After all, we should all take pride in the quality of the workforce in our automobile industry. The Dodge Charger was recognized in Detroit as the car of the year. I believe that is because of the employees and the company working as a team to produce that car of the year. The Toyota RAV4 is a vehicle that has been widely supported here in Canada and abroad. These vehicles, whether those two or any others being produced in Canada, are recognized for the quality of the product. The Prime Minister and this government have said we need to not only protect but also look at ways we can expand the automotive industry here in Canada. That is why the whole battery supply chain is so critically important.

Unlike the Conservatives, we do not have our heads in the sand. We realize that electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles will continue to be produced in the future, and we want to be in the game. The Conservatives say no, at a great cost.

We need to look at the reality of what is happening not only in Canada but around the world. We will see that Canada can, in fact, be a world leader. We need to be able to move forward. What if we followed the Conservatives? I can imagine the debates during the 1920s and so forth, with Conservatives saying, “You know what? Those wagon wheels create a lot of jobs. We want to keep the wagons flowing.” In technology, things change. Government needs to change. That is why the first question I asked the opposition on this issue was about the Conservative Party's strategy on the future of the automobile industry. Where is it? Nothing at all has been presented to Canadians.

I look at what the Conservatives say about EVs here in the chamber. They say the government is bad because it is providing a grant to encourage people to acquire an EV. Well, members know there are provincial governments across this land that have recognized the value of encouraging their citizens to purchase electric vehicles, and they also have provided financial incentives to do that. We know there are provincial governments that actually invest in the infrastructure to support EVs.

The best I can tell is that there is only one political entity in the country, known across Canada, that says absolutely no to electric vehicles and the promotion of them, not to mention the infrastructure buildup here in Canada. It is the Conservative Party of Canada, the far-right Conservative Party of Canada. That is the only entity that does not have any real strategy to deal with our automobile industry.

The Conservatives want to give the impression that they care about the employees. They take these flash issues and try to build up anger toward the government when they themselves do not have a strategy that takes the industry into the future. The Government of Canada is very much on the front line, working with people and workers and consulting with families and companies, to ensure not only that we have a strategy but that it will be a strategy that is going to work and build upon the successes we have had in the past.

The Conservatives are completely blank, but just the far-right Conservatives here that I see. When I say that, some members ask why I would say “the far right”. They are extreme. We can take a look. There are Progressive Conservative premiers who will support the EV industry. Even the Alberta United Conservatives have supported, if not directly then indirectly, the expansion of EV chargers. The point is that whether they are Progressive Conservatives, New Democrats, Greens, the Bloc party or the Liberal Party, all the main parties that most Canadians would be aware of, they all recognize that things change and that we need to adapt and develop strategies around how we build into the future. The only other party is the Conservative Party.

There were interesting job numbers that were provided to me in regard to just how important the auto and battery plants are. Let us think in terms of the municipalities. We could talk about Windsor, Oakville, Oshawa, Ingersoll, Brampton, Alliston, Woodstock and Cambridge. These are all communities in the province of Ontario, but is not limited to Ontario when we talk about going forward into the future, and even today. I think of my home province of Manitoba, where Winnipeg has New Flyer, as well as the work that Red River College or the University of Manitoba are doing.

[An hon. member]

Are EVs manufactured in Manitoba?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, there is EV manufacturing in Manitoba. The best buses in the world are being manufactured in my home city of Winnipeg, and they are EV buses. Imagine the shell shock on the other side. The silence is deafening when reality finally sinks in.

Even though we have emphasized a great deal about Ontario today, we are really talking about an industry that impacts everyone, every region of our country. That is why I stand up today looking at these communities, the broader community of the province of Ontario, specifically, for me today, and indicate that we care about what is taking place. Even as a Prairies member of Parliament, I am being sensitive to the jobs that are being impacted, as I know every Liberal member of Parliament is.

We have talked about Toyota in Woodstock, which is 2,500 jobs. That is where the RAV4 is produced. I think someone earlier said that every minute or every 30 seconds, a new car comes off the line. In Cambridge there are well over 5,000 jobs, close to 6,000. Let us take a look at what is happening in Alliston at Honda; again, there are thousands of jobs. Those two companies, as I indicated earlier, make up well over 50% of automobile manufacturing here in Canada. Let us take a look at the numbers. I would never have thought this in the eighties and nineties. They stepped up to the plate.

There is talk of a RAV4 hybrid being developed, and it could actually be done here in Canada, at least in some sort of limited way, possibly. I would recognize and ask Toyota. We should maybe make a resolution to support some of the industries that are so progressive. The RAV4 is a fantastic vehicle, and I hope to see a hybrid.

However, there is Stellantis, whether it is in Brampton or Windsor, with genuine concerns. There is General Motors in Ingersoll, Oshawa and St. Catharines. There is Ford. We are very much concerned. We want Ford to do better and to grow.

When we talk about the supply chain, there is NextStar. Someone told me earlier today that NextStar has reached one million batteries being manufactured. Many of the initiatives we have taken as a government to support the automobile industry and add on the EV industry have actually been supported with public dollars by the Ontario government. Doug Ford, by the way, is a progressive Conservative.

At the end of the day, the government will work with Canadians, work with industry stakeholders, families and workers, to ensure that we have a strong and healthy automobile industry all Canadians can be proud of. That means there will be some changes, but we will persevere. What Lester Pearson did for the Auto Pact, the Prime Minister will do for the future of the Canadian automobile industry, and we will see prosperity continue.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am used to a lot in the member's diatribes, but I know that he accuses anyone who does not support government mandates on vehicle purchases of being far right. How far left does one have to be to think that government involvement and intervention is the only way industry can operate in Canada?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, that would be a good question to ask Doug Ford, a Conservative who made many investments, recognizing, contrary to what the member just put on the record, that the government does have a role to play. I am not alone. Progressive Conservative provincial governments and NDP provincial governments also understand the reality that government can make a difference. We have seen that in Canada. We have a Prime Minister who understands that, which is one of the reasons we continue to work every day to protect the industries that are so valuable to our nation.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the program that the Conservatives are criticizing today provides for $2.3 billion over five years. This sort of incentive worked very well in Quebec and helped boost EV sales there.

When I compare this amount allocated over five years to what the government is giving the oil industry, which is controlled by American companies that make billions of dollars in profit a year, it seems to me that this government is not very green and is not doing very much to fight climate change.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to pick up on the point that the member who represents the province of Quebec talked about, which is the rebates, what they are and how it is important that we support the EV industry, its growth and its potential.

This is why we have brought forward through the automobile strategy a program that will sensitize Canadians to purchasing EV vehicles when the opportunity might be there for them to do so. Again, different levels of government have recognized that and have supported it, not only by the federal government's saying it is good but also by the provinces' adding more value to the program.

[Tom Osborne, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, the strategy includes incentives for Canadian automakers, and it also includes a focus on attracting other automakers to build cars in Canada.

While we heard the Conservative Party saying that this will provide incentives for luxury American cars, my understanding of the strategy is that it is capped at $50,000 for imported EVs and that there is no cap for Canadian-manufactured EVs, but many of the parts for American-made EVs are made by Canadians in Canadian plants and factories. We need to support those workers in Canada as well. If we did not, I suspect that the Conservatives would criticize us if those shut down.

Can you speak to that?

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

I cannot speak to that, but I will invite the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader to speak to it.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague has made a very important observation. At the end of the day, when we look at the details of what is being proposed by the government, we see that he is 100% correct.

I would add to that by saying that roughly 35% of our EV purchases in Canada will come from the United States, but for many of those vehicles coming in from the United States, parts are being supplied by Canadian workers. Something overlooked by the Conservatives' rhetoric when they promote anger toward government policy is that they are criticizing jobs that Canadians have. I find that unfortunate because of our integrated system between Canada and the U.S.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton—Bkejwanong, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by correcting a mis-characterization by the member, who suggested that somehow Conservatives are opposed to EVs. Many Conservative members actually own EVs, and that is fine. What Conservatives believe in is the freedom to choose what kind of vehicle they want to buy and not have the Liberal government force them to buy an EV through their tailpipe emissions standard they are putting in place.

The other thing Conservatives believe in is creating jobs for Canadians. Why does the member support sending subsidies to foreign countries that are producing vehicles, instead of making jobs here in Canada?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask all members present who own an EV to please raise their hand. I do not see any on the Conservative side.

Having said that, let me suggest that it is the NDP and PC governments at the provincial levels and the Liberal federal government that have recognized that providing the rebates in some form or another is a good thing. The Conservatives gaslight people on the issue, and I believe that is a disservice. That is really what they are doing.

Remember that there is an integrated automobile industry between Canada and the U.S.A. Many of the parts manufactured here in Canada are sent to the U.S.A. to support EV production.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would love to hear why, the member thinks, the Conservative Party has changed so much. I say that because the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada used to be at the forefront of environmental issues. It was Brian Mulroney who brought countries throughout the world together in Montreal to develop the Montreal Protocol to deal with the ozone layer. It was Brian Mulroney, a Progressive Conservative, who went to see George Bush Sr. to deal with acid rain and came up with protocols respecting how to deal with it.

Why, does the member think, have the Conservatives swung so far away from wanting to do anything with respect to protecting the environment?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I remember former prime minister Joe Clark making the statement that he never left the Progressive Conservative Party but rather that the party left him. There are a lot of progressives, red Tories, or call them what we like: Conservatives with a conscience, Conservatives who believe in the environment and in having good, strong policy dealing with the environment. Those have all been pushed to the side.

We have witnessed the leader of the Conservative Party move and continue to move the Conservative Party of Canada farther and farther to the right.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I want to note that the Liberals keep bringing up the RAV4, and the member for Winnipeg North, for example, said that Toyota is developing hybrid technology. I have news for him: The RAV4 has been a hybrid since 2016, more than 10 years.

Toyota has complained to us that hybrid technology is not recognized by the government's rebates, emissions caps and all these kinds of things. It said it wants a technology-agnostic program. Why will the Liberals not provide that?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, first, I recognize how important the RAV4 vehicle is, and I compliment the workforce at Toyota in Canada. Someone mentioned that it produces, I believe, one car every minute or less than a minute. I thought someone said 30 seconds.

Canada also produces the Dodge Charger, which is the number one car in North America. It was recognized as the car of the year by Detroit. We should be proud of those vehicles and the love and attention that go into making them.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the House and speak for the decent and hard-working people of Windsor West. On their behalf, I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to the good people of Tumbler Ridge as they go through the most challenging time of their lives.

Windsor is a border city. For us, when trade works, we work. When a trade war starts, Windsor is on the front lines of that war, but the choices being made here in Ottawa are having a serious impact at home.

It is important to explain what Windsor actually means to this country. Windsor is the automotive capital of Canada. The Windsor-Detroit corridor is the linchpin of our trading relationship, where roughly one-third of all Canada-U.S. trade crosses the border every single day, which amounts to over half a billion dollars every day.

Windsor anchors one of the most integrated supply chains in the world. Auto parts made in Canada cross back and forth to the U.S. several times before the final assembly of a vehicle. When tariffs are imposed and uncertainty grows, the impact is immediate. A delay in Windsor can idle a plant in Michigan. A slowdown in Michigan can shut down a supplier in Ontario. That is why getting our auto policy right is essential if we want to put Canadian workers first.

When I talk to workers back home, they are very clear about where our trouble started. They, too, blame it on the tariffs that President Trump imposed on us. Like us, the people of Windsor believe the tariffs are unjustified. They believe they were meant to target our manufacturing sector and our auto sector, and they hit Canadian auto workers directly. Just yesterday, even the United States Congress said those tariffs against Canada are unjustified.

However, more importantly, there is anxiety and frustration on our side of the border, because of how the government has responded to the trade war so far. Instead of securing protections for Canadian manufacturing and Canadian workers, the government announced billions of dollars in EV subsidies. On the surface, that sounds supportive, but when workers look closely, they see where most of that money is going. A significant portion is going to vehicles built in the United States, in Trump's America, and in other foreign jurisdictions. While Trump's tariffs are hurting Canadian workers, Canadian tax dollars are being used to support American production. The workers on the shop floor are shaking their heads at the complete lack of common sense in this policy.

That is not all. The workers in Windsor have a great memory. They remember being promised a trade deal by July 21, 2025. They remember being told that help was coming, but that deal never arrived. There was no agreement, no certainty and no protection. Many in Windsor are feeling disappointed. They are caught between unfair Trump tariffs on one side and domestic policies that fail to anchor production and secure good-paying jobs on the other. People understand that trade negotiations are complex, but they also understand when promises are not kept.

This issue goes well beyond the big three automotive companies. Today, we are producing half the cars that we did in 2016, going from 2.3 million cars a year to 1.2 million cars a year. All of that decline took place under the Liberal-NDP rule.

In Windsor and across southwestern Ontario, parts manufacturers and tool and die shops are under real threat. These are smaller businesses, often family-run, that are highly-skilled and absolutely essential to the auto supply chain. However, when assembly lines slow down, the orders for these smaller companies disappear, and when uncertainty drags on, layoffs begin quietly. I can tell the House that this is happening on both sides of the border, unfortunately. I am hearing from tool and die shops that have already let workers go. Parts suppliers are cutting shifts. This is how economic damage spreads. It is out of sight from Ottawa, but deeply felt in cities like Windsor, London, Hamilton, Brampton, Oshawa and Quebec.

There is another concern that comes up over and over again, which is that capital investment is leaving Canada. Banks have published studies on this, by the way. Other Canadian companies besides Brookfield Asset Management are choosing to invest in Trump's America, not because Canadian workers lack skills and not because our plants lack capacity. I am being told by manufacturers that the rules south of the border are clearer, that the regulators there are helpful instead of hindering, that the costs feel lower and that the path to profitability feels more stable. Some of these folks have told me that the red tape on our side of the border is choking entrepreneurs. When will the government address this issue?

I have also had the opportunity to speak with a few workers, who have talked to me about the EV policy. They told me the production for the EV Dodge Charger model that was just referred to has been paused, yet it won awards at the Detroit Auto Show. As of January 2026, the Pacifica plug-in hybrid is also being phased out by Stellantis.

These workers are not debating climate goals; they are asking for clarity. They hear that the EV mandate is gone, but they are not happy about our tax dollars subsidizing cars made in Trump's America. When I mentioned our Conservative proposal for removing the GST on Canadian-made vehicles to support our manufacturing jobs, members can imagine their answer. They are all for it.

Before I go on, I want to briefly mention the Gordie Howe bridge, which has been under construction for eight years. It was completely approved in 2015, but the Liberal government did not put a shovel in the ground until 2018. The bridge is critical to both Windsor's and Canada's international trade.

We have heard about the comments made by the President and the subsequent conversations he had with the Prime Minister, but the people in Windsor have been waiting and seeing delay after delay. Now they are even more uncertain as to when this bridge will open or even when the toll rates will be announced. Incredibly enough, the Liberal government and its Crown corporation have not come up with toll rates after starting the project over eight years ago. It is absolutely incredible. For logistics companies, which plan months ahead while bidding on contracts, the lack of certainty and information on toll rates hurts their ability to compete.

This has to change. The government needs to provide firm timelines on when this bridge will open. People in Windsor and across southwestern Ontario need that information yesterday.

What do people in Windsor really need? The people in my city are reasonable, and they have reasonable expectations. They want their government to defend Canadian jobs, first and foremost, to stop sending our tax dollars to President Trump and to secure a trade deal that protects us and keeps investments in Canada. They are not asking for guarantees; they are asking for honesty and integrity.

This is the picture in Windsor. The unjustified tariffs by President Trump started the damage, the absence of an intelligent Canadian response by the Liberals allowed it to deepen, and workers, along with suppliers and small manufacturers, are paying the price.

Windsor is not the edge of the country, but one of its economic engines, and it is an important one, I might add. If we are serious about putting Canadians first and wanting workers in Windsor to believe their government believes in them, we must be serious about what happens to Windsor and its workers. They are relying on the House to come up with a proper solution so that they and their families have a viable future and their kids can enjoy all of the benefits this great nation has to offer.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the member can talk about where he sees the future of vehicles going. Right now, one in every five vehicles sold in the world is an electric vehicle. It is continuing to only increase and will continue to only increase, moving into the future.

I wonder if he accepts that fact and if he would share his thoughts on where he sees Canada's role in the electric vehicle manufacturing process.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is a fantastic question. Here is the answer.

Last year, with respect to the Dodge Charger EV that my friends opposite referred to, only about 7,000 of them were made. A little over 500 were sold in Canada and 7,000 were sold in the U.S. It was a losing proposition for Stellantis, which stopped production on it and has not decided if it will restart production this year. The Pacifica plug-in hybrid version is also being suspended.

We are in North America. Our supply chains are integrated with North America. We have to do what is right here in our part of the world, not globally. They can do whatever they want in other parts of the world, but we should not be subsidizing other parts of the world with Canadian taxpayer dollars to say we support them and their—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, we are asking ourselves one question: What does this motion have to offer Quebec?

As we see it, this motion has absolutely nothing good to offer Quebec. The more electric cars on Quebec's roads, the better for Quebec's economy.

Allow me to explain that to my colleague. When an electric car recharges, Hydro-Québec sells that electricity. Instead of using western oil, we use Quebec-generated electricity. Since Hydro-Québec is a publicly owned corporation, this is obviously better for Quebec's economy.

Does my colleague get the picture?

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Ontario aluminum extrusion plants consume roughly 1.3 billion dollars' worth of aluminum from Quebec. Can Art, a company in Windsor, Ontario, has laid off 250 workers because the EV Ford truck is not being produced anymore. It started a plant worth $60 million that is sitting idle because of the tariffs imposed by our friends to the south.

This is what we are doing to our own companies. We are not supporting them and we are not helping them. We are doing everything to stand in the way of their progress.

These are companies that add value to the resources coming from Quebec, yet here we are, debating what to to do about electricity. It is a great question. We would support the electrification of the entire planet if I could help it, but what are we going to do about all of these plants that are consuming the products they make? We have not been helping them.

What is the government prepared to do to help aluminum extrusion plants in Ontario?

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Cloverdale—Langley City.

Before the member begins, I want to remind members that Standing Order 16(2) still applies. Members cannot cross between the Speaker and the member who is about to speak.

I invite the member to ask her question or make her comment.