Trudeau criticized for sidestepping issue after announcement of new EV plant
Numerous stakeholders are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeua to ensure job security for Canadian auto workers following a major investment by Honda in the county.
On Thursday, Honda, along with the provincial and federal governments, announced that it will be building a new electric vehicle battery plant in Ontario, next to its existing Alliston assembly plant.
The project is expected to create 1,000 new jobs in addition to the 4,200 already existing at the plant, which will be retooled.
The $15-billion EV project will also include two other plants “elsewhere in Ontario” that will produce cathodes and separators. It’s the largest electric auto investment in Canada’s history, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. Along with Ontario premier Doug Ford, the investment was lauded as a major step forward for Canada’s international industrial presence.
However, when asked whether the agreement with Honda includes explicit protection for Canadian workers, Trudeau sidestepped the question, according to CTV News.
"Actually, the investments we're making, whether it's with NextStar, or here with Honda Motor Co., it's all about creating great jobs for Canadian workers, and that's what is actually being delivered," Trudeau said, according to the report.
Job protection for autoworkers
EV transition is an unstoppable reality, said Lana Payne, Unifor national president.
“It is paramount, however, that government investment comes with guarantees of good paying jobs and transition supports for workers, and that workers’ rights to organize are fully respected,” she said.
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“As exciting as it is to build the auto sector of the future, we can’t lose sight of the instability this transition brings to autoworkers. We know this because we are living through it right now in Ontario. Our members are living through it,” Payne said, following the announcement of the Honda investment.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives have demanded to see contracts the federal government has made with automakers.
"We have seen before where Justin Trudeau announces massive subsidies that are supposed to create Canadian jobs, only to see him turn around and let those jobs be filled by foreign replacement workers and then lie about it," Sebastian Skamski, a spokesman for Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre, said in a statement, according to the CTV News report.
"We can't trust that his latest announcement of $5 billion in Canadian taxpayer money to another large multinational corporation will be any different."
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also said the federal government should stop writing “blank cheques” without assured protection for unionized workers.
"There needs to be guarantees baked into any public dollar we spend, and should be tied to jobs and investments that benefit Canadians," Singh said, according to the report. "It should not be that we just give a blank cheque to a company and say we hope that you hire Canadians."
Previous reports noted that Tesla is laying off more than 6,000 employees in the states of Texas and California.