Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a “full inquiry” into the Liberal’s massive subsidies for electric vehicle battery plants amid allegations at least one recipient is planning on bringing in temporary foreign workers to run them.In a statement from Ottawa on Monday, Poilievre demanded terms of a $15 billion contract with Stellantis be made public and demanded assurances no public money should go to hiring temporary foreign workers at its EV plant near Windsor.“Every family in Canada will give $1,000 to this plant and now we know that the majority of the jobs won’t even go to Canadians,” he said..“Every family in Canada will give $1,000 to this plant and now we know that the majority of the jobs won’t even go to Canadians.”Opposition leader Poilievre.It comes after temporary workers from South Korea began arriving in Windsor last week to begin construction on the so-called ‘giga-plant’ in partnership with Seoul-based LG. Local unions have raised fears as many as 1,600 of the 2,500 potential hires could go to Koreans and not Ontario auto workers.Earlier this summer, the federal and provincial governments ponied up $15 billion after the companies halted construction on what was supposed to be Canada’s first EV battery plant and threatened to move it to the US.That came after the feds handed out another $13 billion to Volkswagen to lure them from the clutches of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. Under the agreement, Ontario would chip in $5 billion with the other $10 billion coming from Ottawa.“The governments of Canada and Ontario are partnering to attract once-in-a-generation projects that will anchor our auto manufacturing sector and keep good jobs in Canada,” according to a joint statement by Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Ontario Premier Doug Ford in July..But last Thursday, a seemingly innocuous Tweet from the Windsor police department seemed to let the cat out of the bag after a meeting where South Korean ambassador Woongsoon Lim welcomed 1,600 future workers to the community.That in turn raised alarm bells among local union reps who petitioned the city’s two NDP MPs and Labour Minister Randy Boisinette for an explanation.Ontario’s Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli, who also signed the joint declaration in July, reportedly blamed the federal government’s permitting process. “Ontario has one of the most skilled workforces in the world and thousands of talented men and women who are more than capable of performing these jobs,” a spokesman said in a statement to Global News.Currently NextStar Energy — the joint venture partnership — has almost two dozen job openings on its website for technicians, supervisors and legal administrators with “fluency in Korean.”.It comes after the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) last week warned the final bill for the Trudeau Liberals’ EV ambitions could top $50 billion with no guarantee of being repaid for the next two decades.“Today we learned that the multibillion-dollar subsidy to Stellantis may be funding as many as 1,600 jobs that won’t be going to Canadians, but to foreign workers instead, despite the prime minister’s promises of jobs for Canadians. This is not acceptable,” Rick Perkins, the Conservative shadow industry minister said in a statement.“The prime minister must do two things. First, he must come clean and release the contracts he signed with Stellantis, Volkswagen and Northvolt so that taxpayers can know how much money they are on the hook for and what provisions have been secured to actually ensure that there are good, long-term jobs for Canadians. Second, he must guarantee that Canadian tax dollars won’t fund jobs unless they are for Canadian workers.”
Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a “full inquiry” into the Liberal’s massive subsidies for electric vehicle battery plants amid allegations at least one recipient is planning on bringing in temporary foreign workers to run them.In a statement from Ottawa on Monday, Poilievre demanded terms of a $15 billion contract with Stellantis be made public and demanded assurances no public money should go to hiring temporary foreign workers at its EV plant near Windsor.“Every family in Canada will give $1,000 to this plant and now we know that the majority of the jobs won’t even go to Canadians,” he said..“Every family in Canada will give $1,000 to this plant and now we know that the majority of the jobs won’t even go to Canadians.”Opposition leader Poilievre.It comes after temporary workers from South Korea began arriving in Windsor last week to begin construction on the so-called ‘giga-plant’ in partnership with Seoul-based LG. Local unions have raised fears as many as 1,600 of the 2,500 potential hires could go to Koreans and not Ontario auto workers.Earlier this summer, the federal and provincial governments ponied up $15 billion after the companies halted construction on what was supposed to be Canada’s first EV battery plant and threatened to move it to the US.That came after the feds handed out another $13 billion to Volkswagen to lure them from the clutches of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. Under the agreement, Ontario would chip in $5 billion with the other $10 billion coming from Ottawa.“The governments of Canada and Ontario are partnering to attract once-in-a-generation projects that will anchor our auto manufacturing sector and keep good jobs in Canada,” according to a joint statement by Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Ontario Premier Doug Ford in July..But last Thursday, a seemingly innocuous Tweet from the Windsor police department seemed to let the cat out of the bag after a meeting where South Korean ambassador Woongsoon Lim welcomed 1,600 future workers to the community.That in turn raised alarm bells among local union reps who petitioned the city’s two NDP MPs and Labour Minister Randy Boisinette for an explanation.Ontario’s Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli, who also signed the joint declaration in July, reportedly blamed the federal government’s permitting process. “Ontario has one of the most skilled workforces in the world and thousands of talented men and women who are more than capable of performing these jobs,” a spokesman said in a statement to Global News.Currently NextStar Energy — the joint venture partnership — has almost two dozen job openings on its website for technicians, supervisors and legal administrators with “fluency in Korean.”.It comes after the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) last week warned the final bill for the Trudeau Liberals’ EV ambitions could top $50 billion with no guarantee of being repaid for the next two decades.“Today we learned that the multibillion-dollar subsidy to Stellantis may be funding as many as 1,600 jobs that won’t be going to Canadians, but to foreign workers instead, despite the prime minister’s promises of jobs for Canadians. This is not acceptable,” Rick Perkins, the Conservative shadow industry minister said in a statement.“The prime minister must do two things. First, he must come clean and release the contracts he signed with Stellantis, Volkswagen and Northvolt so that taxpayers can know how much money they are on the hook for and what provisions have been secured to actually ensure that there are good, long-term jobs for Canadians. Second, he must guarantee that Canadian tax dollars won’t fund jobs unless they are for Canadian workers.”
