Ford’s delay catches governments off guard
Premier, prime minister surprised by decision to postpone EV production in Oakville until 2027
Queen’s Park and Ottawa, which have jointly pledged billions in electric vehicle manufacturing subsidies, were jolted by Ford Canada’s move to delay domestic EV production.
Ford Canada announced Thursday it would postpone all electric vehicle production at its Oakville assembly plant by two years until 2027, due to softening demand.
That move came in the wake of the provincial and federal governments ponying up $295 million each in 2020 to boost EV production there. Neither the Prime Minister’s Office nor the federal industry department officials were given any advance warning of the car company’s decision, with officials learning of it in the news.
A visibly displeased Premier Doug Ford said he was only alerted of the decision by the automaker early Thursday.
“I was informed this morning before I came here,” he said in Thunder Bay that day, expressing concern for the 3,200 workers affected in Oakville.
“Disappointing that it’s going to take three years to retool. I understand that Ford is going to take care of the Unifor members. That’s number one. It’s an absolute priority. We’ll do everything we can to work with them,” the premier said. “Ford has to … try to retool as quickly as possible — three years seems like a very, very long time.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has worked closely with the Ontario premier on subsidies for Stellantis in Windsor and Volkswagen in St. Thomas, said “obviously different companies will make decisions that make sense for them.”
“But what we’re seeing is an incredible adoption rate of electric vehicles and … the entire manufacturing chain that we’re building up in Canada, from mines to battery assembly to auto assembly to the recycling that goes after it,” Trudeau said Thursday in Winnipeg.
“We’ve continued to draw in investments from around the world and will continue to be there to invest in a strong future as those projects and those jobs are created,” he said.
The Ontario premier echoed the prime minister’s bullishness on the electrified future of auto manufacturing here.
“We’re now the number-one destination in the world for EV production,” said Ford, pointing out the forthcoming VW factory will be the largest battery facility in North America.
“We have some other pokers in the fire right now and once we … get confirmation, then we’ll be able to announce those announcements as well.”
In a letter Friday to Trudeau that reiterated calls from other premiers for a first ministers’ meeting on carbon pricing, Ford touted Ontario’s EV expansion efforts as key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“We’re … investing billions more in clean energy and, in partnership with your government, we’re building an electric vehicle supply chain that will ensure the cars of the future are built right here in Ontario,” he wrote after similar letters were sent by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey, among others.
Trudeau, in Calgary on Friday for another prebudget announcement — $600 million to boost housing supply — was asked about provincial opposition to his carbon price and those calls for a first ministers’ meeting.
The prime minister first threw shade at the Alberta premier, citing a 2021 video Liberals are circulating of Smith, saying she’s “changed her mind” and she was “probably better off” thanks to the federal carbon pricing plan.
“(Smith) said she likes it because it puts more money in the pockets of her family, that it actually delivers more while fighting climate change,” Trudeau said.
“That’s exactly how we designed this program,” he said, “so I’m going to choose to believe Danielle Smith of a few years ago, before she started playing politics.”
Pressed to answer whether he’d convene the premiers, Trudeau said, “we had a meeting on carbon pricing, and every single premier came together to work on establishing a pan-Canadian framework on climate change years ago.”
That 2016 meeting — with a different group of premiers — set out the agreement that if provinces didn’t want to design their own carbon pricing plan to make sure “pollution wasn’t free anywhere,” a federal “backstop” would be implemented.
Trudeau noted Quebec and B.C. are exempt from the federal program because they have their own carbon-pricing systems.
The prime minister took aim at Ford’s government for withdrawing the province from the Western Climate Initiative alliance with Quebec and California in 2018.
“Ontario — now this is a nice irony — Ontario actually started a capand-trade program,” Trudeau said.
“It was scrapped by Doug Ford when he first got elected, which means the federal price on pollution that he is now complaining about is because he got rid of the … cap-and-trade program that existed when he got elected,” he said.
“And now he’s complaining about the federal backstop that he chose to bring in for Ontarians.”
Trudeau signalled he is not going to change course.
“We cannot back off in the fight against climate change, in the fight to reduce our emissions and create those innovative solutions that the world’s going to need.”
‘‘ I understand that Ford is going to take care of the Unifor members. That’s number one. It’s an absolute priority.
PREMIER DOUG FORD