Next plant in Canada's EV supply chain landing in Port Colborne, Ont. | Power & Politics

CBC News has confirmed that Ontario will once again be home to the next Link in Canada's growing electric vehicle supply chain last month the federal and Ontario governments announced a total of5 billion in tax credits that help lure Honda to invest 15 billion to build four plants in Canada those commitments include the First Electric Vehicle Assembly Plant and a new Standalone EV battery plant at Honda facility in Alliston Ontario and Canada's first lithium ion separator plant in Port curn Ontario the location of the final plant in the supply chain has yet to be revealed the Finance Minister says Canada is perfectly placed to attract even more Investments we have the natural resources we know how to process them we know how to turn them into batteries and cars and what we want to see is more and more companies taking advantage of that full supply chain but should the federal government make more of an effort to spread those investment Dollars around the country the power panel is with me Russo Brad LaVine Lisa R and Michelle cadario Lisa I'm going to start with you first we know that Manitoba and Quebec also bid to get one of these plants in their provinces uh Premier Lego has said Honda was too Gman too greedy uh wanting more in financial incentives in the province was able to give should the federal government do you think have done a little bit extra here to maybe try to to to spread the wealth around as it were I you know what Kath all I keep singing in my head whenever you supply whenever you say supply chain is that old song Chain of Fools because I'm really hoping that we are not a Chain of Fools With all the supply chain linkages that we're making it's it's a very big bet that they're taking you know I thought the Deputy Prime Minister's comments about we have the knoow we have the critical minerals we we have the processing knowhow I mean but do we have the regulatory kind of um infrastructure in order to give a go on all of the pieces that need to come together for these end users these factories because they're all end user of the product we have to make sure that we can do the front end as well so I'm happy that they're making all of these announcements and I'm sure they they're all feel good but I think what Canadians need to understand is that without having the actual product to put into the plant there is no chain and maybe we're all singing that song just to be Crystal Clear Lisa you're talking about things like the lithium for instance I'm talking about a processing plant you need a regulatory framework to get a processing plant approved because there's going to be emissions from it you got to do a construction they're going to be taking water I mean it it this is complex it's not just about here's a big check Honda go build us a factory and away she goes that's not the way it works there's a whole lot of pieces in between so the focus right now is on all of these big announcements but I would implore the federal government to do the hard work to get the rest of the chain in a shape where that actually can be fed otherwise there's not going to be an end product okay uh an important Point Brad I want to ask you this question of whether or not the federal government has made the right choice I mean in essence it seems to have said to several provinces make your pitch you know how much money are you willing to to Pony up was that the right choice or is this uh particularly the sheer size of the announcement we we've seen about electric vehicles which primarily have landed in Ontario with the exception of the northv um plant uh battery plant in Quebec is there you know some political challenges around that well yeah so Canada is competing with other uh with with with with United States with with Mexico uh with other uh countries for this uh Global Capital uh to come um so the question becomes if we place too many uh restrictions on the government subsidies it it may wear down that subsidy and other jurisdictions may get uh you know may get the may get the may get the Investments uh obviously what what uh the minister was saying was you know the idea that we're we're going to be attracting more uh investment because of these these initial announcements that's very possible so the the question becomes do do do future incentives like the tax uh rebates uh or other incentives um should we then spread out uh where those Investments get made within Canada uh and the you know I I I just don't know if uh you could place those uh challenges on uh those companies we've talked a lot about procurement when it comes to things like defense those are Regional Economic Development things which is why in some cases we don't get anything built so we'd have to be very very careful and learn from where that where that Regional economic spin-off has worked and where it hasn't Rob it's interesting because when I think of the last announcement the the big Honda announcement itself the government did actually send ministers out across the country they had folks in BC saying hey look there's some knock-on effects here in Halifax look at the knock on effects here um do you think that they have to convince the rest of Canada that this is worth all the public dollars that are being put into it it's it's always going to be tough politically but uh to paraphrase Pierre Trudeau fish swim Capital flows in this instance right it's not like the government made this decision in isolation um Honda has plants in Alliston Ontario uh it has large plants in Ohio Maryville Ohio and in the Carolinas proximity to those plants was part of this decision as well I'm not sure we would have been able to convince Honda to to move to to Quebec or or or to Winnipeg um you know and uh I think in some ways Lisa is right we are not the best place when it comes to these critical minerals and yet these companies are coming here Toyota will be next it'll just be a few more weeks but you watch before the summer arrives Toyota will be next as well and why are they coming here there's some critical reasons why they're coming here other countries have more critical minerals than we do um but we're considered stable we are close to a large and lucrative Market uh and U one of the reasons they didn't go into the United States is because in November there's a possibility of a Mercurial president being elected who uh isn't always very kindly disposed to foreign automakers and they won't have that problem here while they have access to that market and another very important feature is in Ontario uh clean power uh Hydro power that's one of the first questions large investors make now is where am I getting my power from and is it clean Michelle I mean the other part of this is of course that so many billions of dollars have been put into this project r large but there are challenges right people aren't adopting EVS at the rates that are necessary I interviewed the president of Honda Canada on on CBC Ros the house a few weeks back and he said listen we're not actually starting to build these things for a few years there are issues that need to be sorted out in the interim around the infrastructure you know lease is talking about building these plants but um charging stations themselves right make and making sure the electricity is available and whatnot there's there's still a lot of uncertainty despite the magnitude of the invest M uh if you were in government how are you going about trying to deal with the the sheer breadth of things that need to be dealt with well first of all I'm welcoming any company that wants to come and uh actually make Roots here and uh especially you know when we are right now as as everyone has already said we're competing with other countries in the world it's not just about Manitoba versus Ontario versus Quebec and uh you know Joe Biden has opened the spigots to attract invest M particularly in the EV space and to compete Canada had put had to put some dollars on the table we're fortunate now that we're actually in the initial stages of building these clusters these clusters that are that are you know hopefully what that can be expanded upon that means jobs and that does mean instiller benefits right across the country uh not it's not easy to see necessarily first off but it is something that is so necessary if we're going to create this new industry here you know without question there are added added pressures about uh EV adoption um and certainly you know sure look in Canada but also the United States that big Market that Rob talked about that's where we that's where ultimately these companies need to see ev adoption they need to see EV charging stations they need to see that kind of acceptance level um broaden uh at this point really it's only the west coast to Canada and the United States where you see real um EV adoption and uh and there's also you know challenges when you look at California in terms of the electricity prices and the electricity reliability so you're right it is a whole mishmash of issues but boy it is something that we should be digging our teeth into and that we should be you know trying to look 30 years ahead uh and stay on top of that and be at the Forefront of it because you know that the United States has their teeth into it and uh and you know they are our biggest competitor on this but they're also the biggest Market that they have to offer uh Lisa I wonder what does it tell us that the conservatives primary criticism around these issues has been about the extent to which foreign workers are involved in some of these plants like we haven't to my mind heard a very um crisp and often repeated as is the Hallmark of fear fall have when he's got something he wants to dig into he he says it an awful lot haven't heard um that kind of sharpened criticism from the conservative party what does that tell us I think it's I think it's the most valid CR actually I have heard the criticism I mean I the cbtu the Canadian Building Trades Union had written a letter and theyve indicated their concern look a government can always make it a condition precedent in order for a certain number of jobs to go to the local area and preventing it from going offshore it's that's in the hands of the government and I think the the conservatives are doing the right thing because battling on the other side is the fact that this is going to be funded on investment tax credits right and the government just came out and announced a capital gains tax increase for Canadians so one could ju oppose against the other are Canadians paying more taxes while these big foreign multinationals are getting more money from us in order to bring the jobs here and by the way we're not even getting the jobs so I do believe that it is a pretty tight way of explaining the concerns with respect to these EVs and I would just say one thing to what Rob said he's bang on we are all holding our breath until after November to determine who is going to be the president because I don't think that there's any contract that we sign with any of these large corporations that isn't going to be taken and ripped up as a result of a 20% tariff put on at the border of any Canadian import coming in I mean they're just not going to build if they don't have that Advantage any longer and who knows what happens in a Trump World I just want to offer some clarification there I guess what I was saying Lisa and maybe I didn't say it very clearly as they've been very critical the conservatives have been very critical about the number of foreign workers in the plants but I haven't heard them say hey these projects as a whole we don't want them and and I I guess I I will still leave with you then the question as things stand right now and of course we're as far as we know far away from an election things could change but there's a world where there's a baton handed to Pier PV on these kinds of projects and I wonder if you think it's a baton that he welcomes I we don't know anything until after the US election and I that's why I made the point there's so much uncertainty around whether or not these markers of projects are actually going to go ahead depending upon the market conditions that we're going to be facing in the future who knows what happens and as a result there really isn't a need for anyone to jump in and say I think it's a great idea personally I love seeing the announcements I think it makes sense to in Southwestern Ontario to have that economy roaring and and I'm on side with with Premier Ford and all that but you can't deny the fact that in making these deals you can guarantee jobs you can have these Escape Clauses in case you're not able to get the regulations through you should be focused on other parts of the supply chain it's not just a here's the announcement and away we go there's a lot of moving parts so Brad uh given the things that we have laid out here on the one hand uh you know Lisa was just saying fundamentally she likes the announcements but there's the uncertainty South of the Border the questions about whether or not EVS will really achieve their potential uh you give it the thumbs up or the thumbs down the the decision by the government to go big on EVS well I I think that when you're presented with something like these the size of these Investments That these Global uh automakers are are are announcing uh I think I think the government has an obligation uh to try to attract that Global Capital to come to create jobs to create investment um you know the only thing I'm not looking forward to is that it you know with all of these plants opening up do do we have to see the announcements every time they announce a new you know we've announced this we we we got this but every couple of weeks we're going to see Premier Ford Trudeau champagne Minister champagne and and uh and and Ford's people so you know people might get a little um might might might get a little little Bor of it but no listen um Canada is a safe place to invest um for all the points that were raised um we've got proximity we've got expertise uh and and you know I think the idea of a supply chain uh is much more attractive than merely uh one element of it so what I quite like about about uh about this announcement and about the the announcements uh that the two orders of government are making is that we're we're seeing not just an assembly plant not just the batteries but the whole the the whole uh you know attracting uh more manufacturing diversifying uh that which we're we're we're building I think I think makes abundant sense uh and I don't know if if people in other parts of the country are going to Harbor resentment towards Southwest Ontario if that's where uh the bulk of the jobs that is where our Auto sector uh jobs uh currently are Toyota the company that Council of public affairs works with has plants down in Woodstock and then and in Cambridge Ontario so uh there's a real reason why uh Auto in in the Windsor uh you know Corridor uh is established in the auto part sectors established there and it's because of proximity and because of things like trade deals uh it makes Canada very very attractive place to to to do that and I think that the government does right by offering these kinds of incentives Rob uh the Liberals not exactly getting their back slapped off for uh spending over $30 billion on a pipeline uh from Alberta to western Canada there is a political calculus though in all this even though I said uh Capital flows you know the Liberals are spending the money in Southwestern Ontario where Pier PV has made real inroads with working-class Canadians it's not a bad uh bet for them politically to invest the money there to try and arrest that as well

Channel: CBC News

Views: 11,645

Keywords: cbc, cbc news, Honda EV deal, Ontario, Asahi Kasei Corp., Canada's first lithium ion separator plant, Port Colborne, Ont.

Id: QDyYqlZtKM4

Length: 14min 52sec (892 seconds)

Published: Mon May 13 2024