'Get the deal done': City, county leaders unite in plea to secure NextStar Energy battery plant
A united front was on full display Monday as community leaders, politicians, business people, unions and educators gathered together at Windsor City Hall to ensure the NextStar Energy battery plant deal gets closed.
The resounding message was crystal clear, with Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens plainly stating, “Get the deal done.”
Construction at the module portion of the NextStar Energy battery plant has been idled for two weeks while Stellantis and LG Energy Solution negotiate with the federal government. While a deal was in place in March of 2022, the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) created competitive incentives for companies building electric vehicle components stateside putting pressure on the Canadian government to come back to the table and match those incentives.
“Today we find ourselves at an impasse,” said Dilkens. “And now, the future of the entire project is at risk due to prolonged negotiations with the federal government.”
“We have to make sure everybody's screaming on this,” said Unifor local 444 president Dave Cassidy. He’s been talking with government and company officials every day over the past two weeks and says Stellantis indicates there’s still time to make a deal, but that time is running out.
“I don't think that runway is too long. It's short, and hopefully in the next day or so this will get wrapped up,” he said.
.Stellantis and LG Energy Solution EV battery plant construction site in Windsor, Ont., on Monday, May 15, 2023. (Sijia Liu/CTV News Windsor)
Mayor Dilkens is making a notice of motion at Monday’s city council meeting, urging the federal government to act swiftly to finalize the agreement.
“They are the ones that have the capacity to follow through on the commitment that they made, which is to match the IRA incentives with our largest employer” Dilkens said. “We're going to hold their feet to the fire.”
Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk said the magnitude of the deal is much larger than in March of 2022 but the feds are hoping all sides can stretch to get a deal done.
“This is the most important investment in the history of our community in Windsor Essex and that’s what gives me confidence, we all recognize it, we’re all working towards it, we will get an agreement, we will have a battery plant built here in Windsor,” he said Monday.
CTV reached out to Stellantis, which once again declined to comment Monday.
Dilkens mentioned his biggest fear is that negotiations drag out or go sideway and the company pulls out entirely and relocates the $5 billion investment to Michigan.
Cassidy is confident a deal will get done — and hopes this final push will show the negotiating parties the importance of the project.
“When we're all together and we're moving this forward, we're going to win on this,” he said.
“We are going to win on this project come hell or high water.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What's a Barnacle? It's yellow, sticks and screams if you try to pry it off your car
Barnacles, bright yellow devices used to make sure parking scofflaws pay their tickets, could soon be making their way to cities across Canada.
Verdun Airbnb listing taken down amid complaints, fines and frustration from neighbours
An Airbnb in Montreal's Verdun borough was the source of much frustration from neighbours who say there were constant parties at the location. It has been taken down from the app, but housing advocates remain upset about short-term rentals.
Man who set himself on fire outside Trump trial dies of injuries, police say
A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former U.S. President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.
They were from different countries and barely spoke each other's languages. More than 20 years later, they're still happily in love
He decided to spend Christmas somewhere that wouldn't involve snowstorm disasters. She was spending the holidays with family, travelling for the first time outside of her native country of Venezuela. 23 years later, they're still in love.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
A Nigerian chess champion plays the royal game for 60 hours - a new global chess record
A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate played chess nonstop for 60 hours in New York City's Times Square to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
Fire in Labrador town under control, officials tells residents to stay away
RCMP say the fire that prompted a state of emergency in a Labrador town is now under control.
12 students and teacher killed in Columbine school shooting remembered at 25th anniversary vigil
Thirteen victims of the Columbine High School shooting were remembered during a vigil Friday on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the shooting that was the worst the nation had seen at the time.
Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza city of Rafah kills at least 9 Palestinians, including 6 children
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.