Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says the federal government’s plans to provide approximately $13 billion in subsidies over the next decade, in order to see Volkswagen build its first overseas battery manufacturing plant in southwestern Ontario is “a very good investment.”
Bloomberg News first reported the “unprecedented” contract, based on an interview with the minister.
Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill on Thursday, Champagne confirmed that the plant—slated to be larger than 390 football fields— will and cost $7 billion to build. The minister said that once Volkswagen begins producing and selling batteries, then Canada’s production support will come into play in the years ahead.
The contract Canada has inked will include both an initial capital investment of $700 million and then up to $13 billion in ongoing production subsidies, comparable to what Volkswagen would receive had it taken its business to the U.S.
“The payback is five years. That’s a very good investment. Talk to any banker, he would say ‘if you get your money in five years, for a plan that’s going to be there for 100 years, that’s a pretty good deal for Canadians,'” Champagne said, going on to call it a “generational opportunity” and a “game changer.”
In mid-March, the German automaker said its subsidiary PowerCo had plans to establish an electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing “gigafactory” facility in St. Thomas, Ont., south of London.
With production planned to start in 2027, the EV battery plant is expected to employ thousands of workers once fully operational, though Champagne pointed Thursday to the trickle-down job creation expected in southern Ontario as a result of the European car manufacturer setting up shop.
“Canada and Ontario are perfect partners for scaling up our battery business and green economy jobs, as we share the same values of sustainability, responsibility and cooperation,” said chairman of PowerCo’s supervisory board, in the March statement detailing the deal.
At the time and until now, the federal and provincial governments have remained tight-lipped about how much governments agreed to spend to secure the plant. Ontario has yet to release how much it plans to contribute towards this plant, or what form provincial funding may take. Any provincial contributions would be on top of what Ottawa has put on the table.
Touting the deal as an indication of Canada’s growing green economy and ability to attract international investment, the move comes amid pressure for this country to remain competitive against the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which is offering billions in clean energy and net-zero industries south of the border.
Champagne said Thursday that the contract will see Canada’s subsidies continue so long as the IRA is in place. This comes after what the minister has said took months of deal-making that started with a phone call and a series of meetings where he and his officials made Canada’s case.
Asked what this move may mean for other clean technology companies Canada is also courting, the minister said the federal government expects to be “very selective” and “targeted” with further investments.
Speaking to CTV News Channel’s Power Play host Vassy Kapelos the day plans for the plant were revealed, the minister said that Canada didn’t win “on the money” and pushed other factors in the deal-making, but declined to offer details despite repeated questions, suggesting the information was “commercially sensitive.”
Reacting to the reported developments on Thursday, NDP MP and auto critic Brian Masse said as more details emerge, the federal government needs to ensure workers and communities benefit in the long-run, not just Volkswagen’s CEO and shareholders.
“To fight the climate crisis and secure Canada’s economic future, Canada needs to be a leader in producing electric vehicles with good-paying union jobs as a requirement for any contracts,” said Masse in a statement.
When the initial pledge was made public, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre questioned “how much of Canadians’ money” would be going to a “foreign corporation.”
A further announcement about the plan is scheduled to take place in St. Thomas on Friday, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and other top officials expected to be in attendance.
Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, told CTV News he’s anxious to see the figures announced, but this plant is shaping up to be the largest electric battery manufacturing facility in North America.
Asked what he thought of the amount of money the federal government appears ready to spend, Volpe said this scale of investment in the auto industry has been seen before, pointing to the 2010 $13 billion bailout of General Motors and Chrysler.
“That was to shore up companies that would have disappeared and probably taken the rest of the industry with them,” Volpe said, noting that now equivalent funding is going towards something that he estimates would result in between $100 billion and $200 billion worth of economic activity over the next 10 years.
He called it more than a return on investment. “This is like acquiring a big-league franchise,” he said.
With files from CTV News’ Kevin Gallagher, CTV News London, and CTV News Toronto
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
