Debates of May 26th, 2026

Department of Finance—Main Estimates, 2026-27

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

Madam Chair, I do believe Volkswagen has written down $6 billion because of losses in electric vehicles. These CEOs are really showing what the market is demanding, and that is not electric vehicles. If we look at Stellantis, for example, it wrote down $26 billion on EV investments. Stellantis cited that its customers were not buying them, and that is why it just could not make a profit from EVs. Just in January, GM, which also received subsidies from the Liberal government and the taxpayer, announced $6 billion of write-downs as well on EV operations. They warned that more EV writedowns may be happening. In December, Ford announced nearly $20 billion of writedowns. It just keeps coming on EV productions. After years of trying to make them profitable, they are just not profitable.

Again, how can the minister stand here and say that the government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and committed billions more, yet the CEOs themselves are saying that they cannot make a profit with these EVs?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, it is a pleasure. I know the member knows the sector because she has New Flyer in her riding, which I am still looking forward to visiting because it is a great company, and it is also looking at electric buses.

My colleague will be happy to learn we were very disciplined. The Chair will remember this because I know he took note at the time. We were talking about production subsidies. This was on the back of the Inflation Reduction Act. In order to attract these investments, we were very smart, because we said we would only pay out when a number of units had been built and sold.

Members should be reassured that we have been good fiscal stewards. We have attracted investment. We have been very disciplined in how we structured these deals. I would say to my colleague that she should keep in mind that the electric stack is the—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member for Kildonan—St. Paul has the floor.

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

Mr. Chair, if we listen to the CEOs who are writing down up to $25 billion because of EV losses and if we look at the thousands of job losses at the Brampton facility and the CAMI facility, I think it is very clear the EV market in North America is struggling. That is despite billions of dollars of promises from the Liberal government and hundreds of millions of dollars flowing. They are still struggling to make a go of it.

We see in North America that EVs do not really sell unless they are receiving huge subsidies from the taxpayers, so that is exactly what the Liberals are doing. They are doubling down on this failing strategy and have brought forward a $2.3-billion EV subsidy so that Canadian taxpayer dollars can go to those purchasing electric vehicles.

However, the reality is a lot of that money is not going to benefit the Canadian auto sector, which is struggling and needs the support. No, It is going to go to foreign-made electric vehicles, because Canada, despite all these promises and all this money, makes one, maybe two, eligible vehicles.

How is it that our auto sector is struggling, we are losing thousands of jobs, and the finance minister has brought forward a $2.3-billion subsidy that will largely go to benefit Donald Trump's American auto sector? How is he justifying benefiting the Trump auto sector when our auto sector needs the support?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, let me talk about Volkswagen for a minute. I can see the smile coming back on the member's face, because Volkswagen will be one of the largest industrial sites in North America. She should be celebrating. I am sure she likes St. Thomas and southwestern Ontario as well. This is going to be an investment that is generational. If she had been with us when we announced that in St. Thomas, she would have seen the community members and the mayor. Everyone was there celebrating the fact that, for the first time in the history of Canada, we were able to attract a European manufacturer.

When I started that journey, people thought it would be impossible. We made it possible. Canadians understand that obviously a number of projects get delayed. It is not unique to Canada. This is what we are seeing in all the other G7 countries, but smart countries invest not only for now, but for the future. These investments will provide benefits to Canadians in the long term.

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

Mr. Chair, it is not necessarily other countries creating electric vehicle subsidies that benefit the American EV auto sector. Again, I do not understand. The minister did not answer my question about why our taxpayer dollars are going to benefit the American electric vehicle market when our auto sector needs support. He did not answer that at all, but we will move on.

It is very clear that the government is going to keep doubling down, but what is really shocking is that, despite all the struggles he is having in getting this electric vehicle strategy off the ground and despite billions of dollars that the government is trying to get out the door to attract this investment, the minister is bringing in 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles, which will represent a third of the electric vehicle market in this country. We cannot hope to compete with the subsidies that China provides.

How can he justify this when our auto sector is struggling?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, I think everyone watching, particularly those in Oshawa and in southwestern Ontario, know that this minister and this government have been standing shoulder to shoulder with them. We can talk to the unions, the local union members, the industry partners and the manufacturers. We have stood with industry and workers every step of the way.

When I started in my previous job as minister of industry, we made investments to make sure that the sector would grow and adapt to the new reality. This is a fast-evolving market, but the investments we are making today need to take into account the future as well, and I think the member will recognize—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member for St. Albert—Sturgeon River has the floor.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Chair, in March, the Liberals entered into a $200-million lease for a so-called spaceport with a company called Maritime Launch Services. The lease was backdated by one full year to April 1, 2025. Why?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Finance and National Revenue]

Mr. Chair, my colleague is asking questions about space. I think space is an important industry in Canada. I hope he is going to have many more questions. As a former minister responsible for the space agency, I will have a lot to say about that.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Chair, in backdating the lease to April 2025, the Liberals handed Maritime Launch Services $20 million for no work and no value to taxpayers.

Why?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, I know that my colleague is an experienced member of the chamber. He is making allegations. It is not the first time that he has made allegations like this, but I think he should be careful in his line of questioning.

At the same time, he should realize that the space industry is a great place to invest.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Chair, the lease was backdated to April 2025. An independent auditor's report revealed that Maritime Launch Services was not a going concern and that they were on the verge of bankruptcy.

Is the real reason the lease was backdated to bail out a nearly bankrupt company? Is that not what happened?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, my colleague should, instead of going after the space industry, celebrate what we have achieved recently. We had our first Canadian to go around the moon. We went back to the moon as humanity. I think he should be proud. Instead of talking down a whole industry and talking down the space industry in the country, he should—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member for St. Albert—Sturgeon River.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Chair, why would the Liberals enter into a lease for a so-called spaceport with a nearly bankrupt company?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, he can talk down the industry. I will stand up for astronauts and the industry at every step of the way. If he was talking to our southern neighbour, he would understand that it is important for Canada to be able to launch from a Canadian site in order to get into a certain orbit, and we can do that in Canso, Nova Scotia.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Chair, in 10 years, how many successful space launches has Maritime Launch Services undertaken?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, I do not know if there is a space parliamentary committee but the hon. member would gain knowledge by talking to our American colleagues. He would learn that having a location in Canada is very strategic in order to launch into a particular orbit, and I can put him in touch with a few astronauts if he wants.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Chair, the answer is zero. They have zero track record of launching anything into space. The Liberals are paying Maritime Launch Services $20 million a year to lease land that Maritime Launch Services does not even own, which they are leasing from the Province of Nova Scotia for less than $14,000 a year. They are then flipping it to the federal government, earning a 1,300% profit.

Is that value for money, yes or no?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, the member went after the space industry. He went after a launch site. He is now going after Nova Scotia. I do not know where this is going to end, but one thing I can tell members is that I am going to stand with the people of Nova Scotia. I am going to stand with our astronauts. I am going to stand with the space industry. I will remind him that I am happy to put him in touch with astronauts. He would learn that Canso is a particular site from which to launch and something we need in terms of national security.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Chair, to review the inconvenient facts for the minister, we have a nearly bankrupt company that has no track record of launching anything into space flipping Crown land back to the taxpayers for a 1,300% profit.

How does any of that make sense?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, I am here to answer the questions from the member. What I find sad tonight is that there would be a way to celebrate the great success of our astronauts, the fact that we have launched a Canadian around the moon, the fact that we are investing in our space industry, the fact that we will have a launch site in Canada, and it is going to be part of the resilience of—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member for St. Albert—Sturgeon River.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Chair, I will put it to the minister. This is about rewarding Liberal insiders.

Is that not what is going on?