Tories Accuse Feds of Failing to Secure Jobs for Canadians in Govt.-Funded EV Battery Plant Deals

Conservative MP Rick Perkins rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 22, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

A Conservative MP is accusing the federal government of failing to include job guarantees for Canadians in its subsidy contracts with foreign electric vehicle battery manufacturers.

Tory MP Rick Perkins told the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) on Dec. 14 that he has read a confidential Volkswagen contract and “what’s not in it is a clause that protects Canadian jobs.”

“The government’s intransigence at trying to keep poorly negotiated contracts secret—that’s the real reason they are trying to keep them secret,“ Mr. Perkins said. ”They didn’t negotiate a good contract and they are being caught in those failures.”

As first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, the Department of Industry has refused to publicly release the contracts with auto manufacturers, which involve more than $50 billion in subsidies for companies to build new battery plants in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.

The Liberal government has promised up to $13.2 billion in federal subsidies for a Volkswagen plant in St. Thomas, Ont. and $15 billion to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont., a collaboration between Stellantis and LG Energy Solution.

“It will create and secure thousands of jobs, both in the auto sector and in related industries across Canada, and will further solidify Canada’s place as a leader in the global electric vehicle supply chain,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said of the Stellantis-LG Energy Solution deal in a July statement.

The House of Commons Industry Committee read the Volkswagen contract behind closed doors last May with no “personal mobile, electronic or recording devices of any kind permitted in the room,” according to a committee motion.

Mr. Perkins said that having read the contracts, there was “virtually nothing in them that is commercially sensitive unless you find it politically disturbing that contracts don’t contain clauses that guarantee Canadian jobs.”

“What’s not in it is a clause that protects Canadian jobs. That’s a guarantee,“ he added. ”I can also tell you what is not in it: a clause that prohibits its release. There is no clause that prohibits its release” from the contract.

‘I Have Read the Contract ’

Following a visit from Korean ambassador Lim Woong Soon to the city of  Windsor on Nov. 16 to examine accommodations for Korean workers set to arrive in 2024 to help set up the EV plant, the Windsor Police Service said it expects approximately 1,600 South Koreans to “work and live in our community.”

Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk, parliamentary secretary for the ministry of employment, denied that taxpayers were subsidizing the Korean workers, while also opposing disclosure of the Stellantis-LG Energy Solution contract.

“We’re seeing false information and confusion that is being sown by the Conservative Party,” he told the OGGO on Nov. 27.

Mr. Perkins said he suspected all the contracts have similar terms. “If you are proud of these contracts, release them,“ he told Liberal MPs on the committee. ”But obviously, you’re not proud of the contracts. You’re just proud of the rhetoric.”

The Budget Office in a Nov. 17 report “Costing Support For EV Battery Manufacturing,” put expenses including debt service charges at a minimum of $50.2 billion.

In addition to Volkswagen and Stellantis-LG Energy Solution, subsidized factories are Ford of Bécancour, Que., Northvolt of Sainte-Basile-le-Grande, Que. and E-One Moli of Maple Ridge, B.C.