Liberal, NDP MPs Defeat Motion to Investigate Use of Foreign Workers at Subsidized EV Plants

Conservative MP Ryan Williams rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Liberal and NDP MPs have voted against a Tory motion to investigate foreign hiring at electric vehicle (EV) plants set to receive billions of dollars in government subsidies.

Tory MP Ryan Williams raised the issue during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology on April 29, as first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter. Mr. Williams asked the committee to invite auto executives and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne to appear for questioning on hiring for the EV projects.

“They are still seeing foreign workers employed over Canadian workers,” Mr. Williams told the committee. “For $15 billion Canadians should have been put front and centre.”

The motion was rejected by the NDP and the Liberals in a 6-5 vote, with Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull arguing the committee’s calendar was full and could revisit the issue in the fall instead.

NDP MP Brian Masse dismissed the premise of the motion saying, “I can’t support basically some type of fishing expedition.”

The federal government has promised over $50 billion in subsidies to create or expand EV production infrastructure in Canada.

Union leaders and Conservative MPs have raised concerns about government subsidies supporting foreign workers after it was revealed late last year that the Stellantis and LG Energy project in Windsor, Ont., employed hundreds of temporary foreign workers from South Korea to construct the large-scale battery manufacturing facility.

Canada’s Building Trades Union (CBTU) on April 26 petitioned cabinet to ensure the hiring of Canadians at the Windsor plant. “Stellantis and LG are persisting in using subcontractors who are employing international workers for tasks we’re equipped to perform,” said the petition, according to Blacklock’s. “Currently more than 100 local skilled tradespeople are available for work yet they’re being sidelined in favour of international workers. This is unacceptable.”

Honda Canada announced last week alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford that it will build four new manufacturing plants in Ontario, including an electric vehicle assembly plant and a standalone battery manufacturing plant at its current facilities in Alliston, Ont.

Both the federal and Ontario governments announced they would be subsidizing the automaker to the amount of $2.5 billion each in tax and other incentives.

CBTU also expressed concern over the project and called for a meeting with Honda to secure a memorandum of understanding to maximize the number of Canadian unionized workers who would be constructing the new project.

A majority of MPs on the Commons government operations committee yesterday also objected to a Conservative motion to scrutinize contracts awarded to all subsidized battery makers.