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
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
WATCH LIVE As former prime minister Mulroney lies in state, public tributes in Ottawa begin
Members of the public who wish to pay tribute to Brian Mulroney can visit his casket in Ottawa starting this afternoon.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.