ASSAULT AND BATTERIES

Trudeau has botched the Stellantis deal by shooting at friends

It looks like Justin Trudeau has been making promises bigger than he wants to keep, and it could cost thousands of jobs. After giving a huge subsidy to Volkswagen, the Trudeau Liberals apparently promised but then didn’t deliver on a similar package for Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat, among other brands.

Now, with Stellantis, halting construction on an electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor, one that helped Ontario land Volkswagen’s plant in St. Thomas, the Trudeau Liberals are blaming others for their failings.

Apparently the problem with the Stellantis deal isn’t that the Trudeau government promised and then didn’t deliver, it’s that the Ford government in Ontario isn’t paying its “fair share.” The main problem with this argument is that the first time the Ford government heard about this was from the media after the Trudeau government started pushing this message out.

That’s right, it didn’t even talk to its partner in EV crime about this before going to the media, even negotiating on Twitter as Trudeau’s industry minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, did a week ago, Tuesday night.

That’s a fact that has been confirmed not only by provincial government sources but those in the industry close to the deal.

Apparently, Trudeau’s team was feeling under fire as Stellantis, its partner LG Energy Solutions, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkins, Unifor and the province all called on it to make a deal.

Leaks were made to the media at first, then direct comments – a tweet by Champagne and a week ago Wednesday morning a more polished message.

I would say now, what we need, and the message to our colleagues in Ontario is, you know, pay your fair share and we will bring this stalemate, if you want, to a conclusion,” Champagne said during a news conference in South Korea.

“This is terrible form,” is how one source close to the negotiations described the public statements by the feds.

The Ford government and the Trudeau government, despite their political differences, have worked together closely on these deals.

Premier Doug Ford has taken political heat for being so close to Trudeau that he has heard from supporters who don’t think the government should be supporting the shift to electric vehicles in this way.

The thanks Ford just got from Trudeau was to throw the premier under the bus as cabinet ministers took turns driving over Ford, reversing and doing it again.

Trudeau has gone all in on electric vehicles. His government offers consumers a rebate to buy them, and his government has mandated that 20% of all vehicles sold in Canada will be zero–emission vehicles by 2026, 60% by 2030 and all new vehicles by 2035.

According to Stellantis, after the Biden administration – the real villain here – introduced its Inflation Reduction Act last August, Trudeau offered similar production subsidies to match the Americans.

This was put in writing from the feds to Stellantis several times but was never delivered.

After watching Volkswagen get its massive subsidy, up to $13 billion if production targets are met, Stellantis upped the ante, but again despite promises, Trudeau didn’t deliver. Now, after the company halted construction of its Windsor plant and said it would look at contingencies – read that as a move to the United States – Trudeau hasn’t lived up to his offer. He’s blaming others.