Trudeau promises to protect local construction jobs — and to hold EV plants to it
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will do everything he can to protect local jobs, he promised Monday, as he met with a union concerned that foreign workers are taking Canadian jobs at a new electric-vehicle battery plant in southern Ontario.
His promise came as the Conservatives pushed him to make the contracts for six major EV projects in Canada public, to show what protections they include for unionized jobs.
Trudeau addressed a crowd of 500 construction union leaders from all provinces on Monday at the Canada's Building Trade Unions annual conference, where he received a standing ovation.
During a 35-minute fireside chat with Sean Strickland, executive director of CBTU, Trudeau made a commitment that his Liberal government will strive to make sure most jobs linked to electric-vehicle projects in Canada stay local.
"So yes, it's part and parcel of it that we expect that the construction, the installation, the maintenance be done by Canadians as much as is humanly possible," Trudeau said.
"We've been pushing on the plants to make sure of that."
CBTU wrote to Trudeau earlier this month asking him to intervene because they said Canadian workers were being sidelined in favour of foreign employees at the NextStar EV battery plant in Windsor, Ont.
About 180 skilled workers in the region remain unemployed, the letter said, despite being available to perform work that has instead been assigned to newcomers.
Both Trudeau and NextStar, which is owned by Stellantis and LG Energy Solution, have denied that is happening, saying 72 positions have gone to foreign workers to install equipment that Canadians will be taught to use.
There's nothing more disturbing to a construction worker, Strickland said to Trudeau, than "when you have a Canadian worker sitting at home, collecting employment insurance in their home community, and there are foreign workers doing his or her work in a plant."
"That is just completely inexplicable to that Canadian worker. We can't have that happen," Strickland said.
Foreign automakers have invested tens of billions of dollars since 2020 to build up electric-vehicle battery plants in southern Ontario, with help from the federal and provincial governments in the form of tax credits and subsidies.
Last week, Honda became the most recent automaker to announce an electric-vehicle battery plant in the province, following similar projects by Volkswagen in St. Thomas, Ont., and the Stellantis LG plant in Windsor.
These EV projects will guarantee "fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth" generations of workers because of those investments, Trudeau said.
"We didn't do it because the government said 'OK, let's build electric cars,'" he said. "We did it because we said, 'This is where the jobs are going to be in the future.'"
Opposition MPs, however, want Trudeau to do more than just promise to try and protect jobs.
The Conservatives tabled a motion at a House of Commons committee demanding the government produce the contracts for six electric-vehicle projects underway in Canada.
The Tories want to see what the contracts say about the use of foreign workers.
This is th second time they've tried to get such contracts.
"The government claimed that all these jobs, both in the construction phase, with the exception of a few specialty jobs, would be jobs that were there for Canadians," Conservative industry critic Rick Perkins said Monday at the government operations committee.
"And in fact, that's not the case."
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was undecided Monday on whether or not his party will support the Tories' quest, saying he needs more information.
"They're proposing to open up all contracts, and I've heard serious concerns about that jeopardizing the project," Singh said.
He maintained the NDP's position that any time public money goes toward projects, there need to be ironclad guarantees they would create good-paying union jobs, "and that the work stays in the country."
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is set to address the CBTU conference on Tuesday.
Trudeau gave leaders a cautionary warning ahead of Poilievre's speech.
"Ask him about whether he's actually going to stand with workers, even though for 20 years of his career in Parliament, he has ideologically stood against workers every step of the way — until, oh, suddenly he needs votes in order to get elected," Trudeau said.
"Look for actions, not just what people say. And I am proud to stand by the actions of what we have built together."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
2 died in plane crash near Squamish, B.C., police confirm
Two people died after a plane went down in a remote area near Squamish, B.C. on Friday, authorities have confirmed.
Grayson Murray's parents say the two-time PGA Tour winner died of suicide
Grayson Murray's parents said Sunday their 30-year-old son took his own life, just one day after he withdrew from a PGA Tour event.
At least 15 dead after severe weather carves path of ruin across multiple U.S. states in the South
Powerful storms killed at least 15 people and left a wide trail of destruction Sunday across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas during the latest deadly weather to strike the central U.S.
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
After more than 100 years, Newfoundland's unknown soldier returns home
An unknown Newfoundland soldier, who fought and died on the battlefields in northeastern France during the First World War, is back home this weekend for the first time in more than a hundred years.
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.
The dreams of a 60-year-old beauty contestant come to an abrupt end in Argentina
A 60-year-old woman saw her dreams of becoming the oldest Miss Universe contestant in history melt away in a haze of sequins and selfies Saturday at Argentina’s annual beauty pageant.
Indianapolis 500 starts after 4-hour rain delay with Kyle Larson in the field
The Indianapolis 500 started Sunday after a rain delay of four hours with NASCAR star Kyle Larson still at the track and in the race.