OTTAWA
—
Industry Minister Melanie Joly says the federal government is initiating a dispute resolution process under its contract with Stellantis over the company’s decision to relocate production of a new Jeep model to the U.S.
She said on Monday that by the end of the day the government would begin the process in one of its contracts with Stellantis in the hopes of pressing the company to outline a plan for its facility in Brampton.
Joly announced the move while testifying before the parliamentary committee on industry, which called her to discuss the federal government’s plan to maintain the 3,000 jobs at the assembly plant in Brampton, Ont., where it had planned to manufacture the Jeep Compass model.
Joly told reporters after her testimony that the government was taking the step because it believes “that there’s been a violation” in its contract.
The governing Liberals, along with the Ontario government, have in recent years inked multi-billion-dollar subsidy contracts with Stellantis, which the minister on Monday defended as being tied to the actual production of vehicles.
Joly also defended the job protection terms of the contracts, which have yet to be disclosed to another parliamentary committee to be viewed in private by MPs.
Conservative industry critic Raquel Dancho said Joly was “evasive” during Monday’s questioning about whether the government had secured job commitments when it came to the plant in Brampton, saying families in the region who are at risk of losing jobs “won’t be reassured.”
A spokesperson for Stellantis said in a statement that it was continuing to work with the government and others on the plan for that facility “to find viable solutions that build a sustainable, long-term future for automotive manufacturing in Canada.”
“The Brampton Assembly Plant has not been closed, and no jobs have been lost; it is on an operational pause,” the company said in a statement.
“We have robust supports in place to help mitigate the effects of this decision and are offering transfer opportunities at other Stellantis facilities whenever possible.”
More to come …
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