Ontario commits to cover 1/3 cost of Stellantis deal, Ford urges feds to close deal
Ontario has committed to paying a third of the cost to save a $5-billion electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont., premier Doug Ford said Thursday.
The province and the federal government are "inches" away from a deal with automaker Stellantis, he said, but did not provide financial details.
Ford said he has been on the phone with the federal government and Stellantis over the last several days in an effort to finish the deal.
He said the province has stepped up in a "huge, huge way" and wants the federal government to do the same for a deal with Stellantis.
"I'm urging them to do what's necessary to secure this," Ford said Thursday.
Negotiations have been underway between the federal government, Ontario, Stellantis and LG Energy Solution after the companies paused construction on their planned factory in a dispute over federal subsidies.
Earlier in the day, Stellantis spokeswoman LouAnn Gosselin said the company "to date has not received an official response from its previously sent letters" about a potential deal.
She did not provide further details.
Ford said details of what the governments are giving Stellantis will become public after a deal is completed.
The negotiations have been stuck between what Canada thinks is fair and affordable and what the company believes it is due.
Stellantis has threatened to move the plant out of Windsor if it doesn't get what it says it was promised by the federal government in an agreement reached in February.
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Wednesday they were getting close to a deal.
Champagne said he made an offer similar to what the federal government and Ontario gave Volkswagen for an electric vehicle battery plant in St. Thomas, Ont.
That deal could be worth up to $13 billion over 10 years.
Stellantis and LG Energy Solution announced their plans to build the facility in March 2022. The federal and provincial governments pledged $1 billion as capital for the project.
But the United States changed the landscape last summer when it announced new production tax credits for EV battery makers as part of the Inflation Reduction Agreement.
That prompted the companies to ask for more government support.
Ford spent some time Thursday trying to quell fears the deal could collapse.
"I know everyone's anxious for the deal and I am as well," Ford said.
He said he's been in constant contact of late with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Champagne.
"We're going to get this deal done," Ford said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.