Ford 'disappointed' in feds' handling of rocky Stellantis deal for EV battery plant
CTV
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is responding to federal government calls for the province to help fund commitments Canada made to automaker Stellantis by saying he is "disappointed" with how Ottawa has handled the issue.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is responding to federal government calls for the province to help fund commitments Canada made to automaker Stellantis by saying he is "disappointed" with how Ottawa has handled the issue.
Both levels of government are working hard to ensure Stellantis doesn't pull out of its promise to jointly build an electric vehicle battery plant with LG Energy Solution in Windsor, Ont., but it's up to Ottawa to follow through on its promises, Ford said Wednesday.
"Hopefully, the federal government will step up and I'm always willing to work collaboratively with them, just like we have with all the other auto deals," Ford said in the halls of the legislature.
"They have been a really good partner, actually. I don't know what happened this time."
Stellantis wrote last month to the federal government, saying Ottawa had confirmed in writing five times that it would match production incentives under the United States' Inflation Reduction Act, but has not delivered on those commitments. Construction at the site has now stopped.
The company finalized the "special contribution agreement" with the federal government in February 2023, nearly a year after the plant was first announced.
Stellantis' letter was dated one day before the amount of subsidies offered to Volkswagen for a battery plant in St. Thomas, Ont., was made public. Canada offered Volkswagen a $700-million capital contribution and up to $13 billion in production subsidies for the batteries it makes over the first decade, to match what the company would get in production tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act.
