Ottawa has made an offer to Stellantis and LG Energy Solution regarding the electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Windsor, Ontario.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it is an offer that the taxpayer respects.
“Usually it is reasonable to create great jobs for the future for future generations to secure a future in Southern Ontario communities and to ensure that Canada fully contributes to the net-zero world on which we will trust,” he said. said.
In an email to Breaking:, Stellantis spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin confirmed: “Stellantis and LGES have received a written offer which is currently undergoing financial and legal review.
“We have nothing more to add at this point.”
François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s minister of innovation and industry, said the offer indicates significant progress has been made, but would not say whether it was the government’s latest offer.
“It wouldn’t be smart for me to negotiate publicly — these things are complex,” he said.
Champagne said he expects a response from Stellantis and LG “soon”, and Canadians shouldn’t be surprised by what’s on the table and on offer.
“We said in the fall that the economic statement would level the playing field with the US when it comes to the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act). But I think also Canadians, and the unions and people understand that these are generational opportunities.”
It’s been over three weeks since we learned that the future of the EV battery factory being built in Windsor was in jeopardy. At that point, Stellantis moved to “contingency plans,” saying the federal government was not honoring its agreement. That’s when the automaker halted most of the construction On the website.
Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal MP for Windsor-Tecumseh, calls the plant the most important investment in Windsor-Essex’s history.
“Negotiations are in the critical final stage… We look forward to sharing an update with the community soon,” he said in a statement.
Canada’s financial package with another automaker, Volkswagen, which plans to open a massive plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, could be linked to the standoff, industry experts say, as well as new US legislation that could open up unprecedented stimulus offers to companies. makes – something that Canada has a hard time matching.
Premier Doug Ford recently said Ontario would contribute a third of the cost to secure a deal, but exactly how much the province would contribute would not be made public until a deal is signed.
South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution and Stellantis announced the $5 billion project last year, saying it was expected to create 2,500 jobs and open sometime in 2024.
Ahead of the tentative deal, and despite it not being an ideal use of federal and Ontario tax dollars, Carleton University business professor Professor Ian Lee said he thought an agreement would eventually be reached due to “politics” and “optics” around Windsor production. history.
“It’s so tempting for a politician, for a leader to say that he should get in front of the microphones at those announcements… and say, ‘I’m here to save you, I’m producing. You’re saved,'” Lee told Breaking:.
LOOK | The US economy and new incentives put Canada at a disadvantage in Stellantis negotiations, says prof
Two weeks of negotiations between the federal and provincial governments and Stellantis have failed to produce a new deal for the NextStar EV battery plant in Windsor, Ontario. Ian Lee, an associate professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, says the economic power of the US, coupled with the incentives provided by recent legislation, make it extremely challenging for Canada to compete.
Lee said the country’s unemployment rate is the lowest since the 1960s, and said the idea that Ontario is desperate to create new jobs is “bullshit”. labor shortage.
“What’s going to happen is these companies will be — they won’t admit this publicly — but they’ll poach and rob and recruit skilled workers from other nearby businesses because they need the workers to work there.”
