The Stellantis deal in Windsor is up in the air again and that could mean trouble for thousands of auto jobs in Brampton.
Politics
LILLEY: Auto workers sweat as Trudeau plays political games
Last weekend, it looked like a deal had been struck that saw the Ford government at Queen’s Park join the Trudeau government in Ottawa to sweeten the pot to secure the Stellantis deal.
Stellantis had stopped work on their electric vehicle battery plant earlier in the week, the reason given, the Trudeau government hadn’t lived up to promises made to the company. Instead of proceeding with work on the plant, the company said they were examining “contingencies,” which is another way of saying they were looking at moving production to the United States.
The Biden administration in Washington has been offering lucrative incentives in the form of the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit, a tax break for companies building things like electric vehicle batteries.
Shortly after Stellantis stopped construction, the Trudeau government said the real problem was that Ontario wasn’t paying its fair share for the deal. That started a public relations war between Ottawa and Queen’s Park to get the Ford government to sweeten what they were offering to Stellantis.
Determined to get a deal, Ford agreed to Trudeau’s terms in exchange for other concessions such as the feds easing up on opposition to Ontario building Hwy. 413 and being supportive of the Ring of Fire plans to mine critical minerals in Northern Ontario.
According to sources close to Stellantis, the deal the federal government presented to the company was effectively the same deal as the previous one but now with Ontario bearing some of the federal burden.
For Stellantis, that could be as simple as moving module production across the river to Detroit or perhaps going somewhere deeper inside the U.S. That would mean the loss of about 300 jobs at the Windsor plant once construction is complete, but the impact wouldn’t be limited to Southwestern Ontario.
There are worries by some in the auto sector that if Stellantis pulls the module plant they will also pull production from their auto assembly plant in Brampton, which employs just shy of 3,000 workers. That’s not a view shared by all the players involved but it is a concern.
Some auto industry types now believe that is up in the air as Stellantis looks at all contingencies.
Stellantis and Unifor, the union representing workers at all the plants involved, declined to comment when contacted Friday. Requests for comment by various representatives from the Ford and Trudeau government were ignored.
Meanwhile, workers in Windsor and Brampton worry about their future.
Political games are being played and, once again, it’s the people working the line who may pay the price.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Quebec wants to curb excessive tipping.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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