An MP told the Commons Government Operations committee on Thursday evening that the cabinet did not include Canadian job guarantees in the subsidy contracts with foreign electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturers.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Conservative MP Rick Perkins (South Shore-St. Margarets, NS) said he read a confidential Volkswagen agreement and “what’s not in it is a clause that protects Canadian jobs.”“I have read the Volkswagen contract,” said Perkins. “The government’s intransigence at trying to keep poorly negotiated contracts secret that’s the real reason they are trying to keep them secret. They didn’t negotiate a good contract and they are being caught in those failures.”For months, the department of industry has declined to publicly release contracts that involve over $50 billion in subsidies for the construction of new battery plants in British Columbia, Ontario, and Québec.Subsidies include $13.2 billion to build a Volkswagen battery factory in St. Thomas, ON.On May 17, the cabinet allowed the Commons Industry committee to read the Volkswagen contract under extraordinary secrecy behind closed doors without “personal mobile, electronic or recording devices of any kind permitted in the room,” according to a committee motion. Perkins is the first MP to publicly discuss the terms.“I am the only one here who can speak with any clarity about what’s in these contracts because I have read it,” said Perkins. “I can tell you there is virtually nothing in them that is commercially sensitive unless you find it politically disturbing that contracts don’t contain clauses that guarantee Canadian jobs.”“The Volkswagen contract, I can tell you what’s not in it,” said Perkins. “What’s not in it is a clause that protects Canadian jobs. That’s a guarantee. I can also tell you what is not in it, a clause that prohibits its release. There is no clause that prohibits its release.”In one case, the cabinet approved $10 million in federal subsidies for a Stellantis battery factory in Windsor, ON, on a promise of jobs. “We are creating thousands of new jobs,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last March 23.However, South Korea’s Ambassador on November 16 visited Windsor to check accommodations for thousands of Korean workers due to arrive in 2024. The Windsor Police Service in a statement confirming its meeting with the Ambassador said it would “look forward to the South Korean workforce” coming to Canada. “We expect approximately 1,600 South Koreans travelling to work and live in our community,” it said.On Thursday, Perkins expressed his suspicion that all the contracts have similar terms.“If you are proud of these contracts, release them,” he told Liberal members. “But obviously, you’re not proud of the contracts. You’re just proud of the rhetoric.”“They say we’re making it up,” said Perkins. “I am not because I have read the contract and the government members have not.”“The best thing they can do to prove us wrong is release them and won’t we look foolish,” said Perkins. “Won’t we look foolish if these contracts actually do contain a job guarantee for Canadians. Prove us wrong. Release them.”According to a report by the Budget Office on November 17, the cost of supporting EV battery manufacturing, including debt service charges, was estimated to be at least $50.2 billion.Subsidized factories in addition to Volkswagen and Stellantis are Ford of Bécancour, QC, Northvolt of Sainte-Basile-le-Grande, QC. and E-One Moli of Maple Ridge, BC.
