Ford ramps up fight over Biden EV policy
Prominent union leader Jerry Dias is getting help in his fight against protectionist American policies threatening Ontario’s auto plants and other industries from agriculture to steel.
Doug Ford is tapping 10 manufacturing, trade and union leaders to round out his Premier’s Council on U.S. Trade and Industry Competitiveness, including chief executive Goldy Hyder of the Business Council of Canada.
Dias, the president of Unifor, was named unpaid chair of the body in early December amid growing concern about buy American policies, such as incentives encouraging motorists to buy U.S.-made electric vehicles.
Ford wants Canadian products excluded from buy American legislation and council members will push their contacts in the United States to get that point across, arguing jobs are at stake on both sides of the border — particularly in Great Lakes states that rely on supply chains that run through Ontario.
“The creation of this council comes at a critical time for the Ontario economy as certain players in the U.S. bang the drum of protectionism,” Ford said in a Monday statement announcing the council members.
In one example of what’s at stake, the Star has reported that Stellantis, parent company of Chrysler, will phase out gas-powered muscle cars like the Dodge Challenger manufactured at its 3,163-employee plant in Brampton.
Replacement electric models are expected to be made in Belvidere, Illinois to take advantage of U.S. President Joe Biden’s EV subsidies, worth up to $12,500 (U.S.) for domestic buyers of union-made vehicles.
Other members of the council include Maryscott “Scotty” Greenwood, chief executive of the Canadian American Business Council, Flavio Volpe, CEO of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association and Craig McInnes, president of Teamsters Local 938 in Ontario and a member of his union’s Canadian executive board.
Dias, whose union represents journalists at the Star, previously advised the federal government during negotiations on the 2019 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced NAFTA.
He has called for “co-ordinated action” between labour and governments to prevent harm to an auto sector that is the backbone of Ontario’s manufacturing system with about one million cars and trucks made here annually.