Deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, in a campaign stop at the University of Windsor on Thursday, promised “truly massive” investment to shift to a green economy, including electric vehicle and battery production here, if the Liberals are re-elected.
“One of the core planks in our platform is truly massive investment in Canada’s green transition,” said Freeland, who was finance minister in the Liberal government.
It’s the right thing to do for the planet and for future generations, she said.
“But investing in the transition to a green economy is also absolutely critical for Canada’s economic future,” she said.
Citing the G7 and G20 finance ministers meetings this summer, she said, “The industrial economies of the world have made the choice to shift to an economy not based on fossil fuels, to a clean and green economy.
“We can either be in the forefront of that green transition or we can be left behind. The simple economic reality is if we do not invest really meaningfully in the green economic transition today, no one will buy the things that we make. And Canada is a trading nation. We need the world to buy our stuff.
“Windsor knows that very, very well. We need to help you make clean, green things that the world wants.”
Investing in electric vehicles and the supply chain to support them is one of Mayor Drew Dilkens’ five priority issues in the campaign.
Freeland, who met with leaders from industry, labour, the university and college, United Way and UHC Hub of Opportunities, also addressed the global shortage of semiconductor microchips that has repeatedly shut down auto production here.
“There needs to be more emphasis on resilience in supply chains,” she said.
Depending on just-in-time delivery with supply chains that stretch around the world creates “rifts and vulnerabilities,” she said.
There’s a growing view calling for “friend-shoring” — supply chains that connect countries that are geographically close and are also political allies. For Canada, that means the United States.
“I think working on that has real, real promise for the Canadian economy and for the people of Windsor,” she said.
Freeland, on her first campaign stop since the Liberals released their platform Wednesday, also pitched the Liberals’ $10-a-day child care. The government has already reached agreements with eight provinces and territories covering 40 per cent of Canada’s children. But there is no agreement with Ontario yet. The program is particularly important for Windsor, which has a one of the highest rates of child poverty, she said.
High-quality, affordable child care would offer all children “the best possible start in life,” and it would offer all parents the opportunity to improve their education and skills and get jobs, she said.
She called it “transformational for this community.”
Establishing Ojibway National Urban Park is also “definitely a priority for our government,” Freeland said.
A re-elected Liberal government would also invest an additional $6 billion in health care to clear surgery backlogs in hospitals caused by the pandemic, she said.
Asked to respond to COVID-19 vaccine protesters who have rallied in Windsor and across the country and mobbed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s campaign stops, Freeland said, “It’s not only appropriate for governments to introduce strong vaccine mandates, it would be wrong to do otherwise. We do not let a person drive their car while they’re drunk, and we should not let a person who hasn’t been vaccinated get on a plane and sit in a small space next to other people. The time has come for governments to say this is it. If you don’t want to get vaccinated, you can not participate in the life of the community because you are making the choice to endanger other people in the community.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.
“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”
Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.
Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.
Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.
In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.
The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.
And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.
Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.
The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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