Emergency Debate on Auto Jobs, Now
The House of Commons must debate the outsourcing of auto jobs.
Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Official Opposition, will make a formal request on Monday to the Hon. Francis Scarpaleggia, Speaker of the House of Commons, requesting an Emergency Debate on the crisis in Canada’s automotive sector:
Dear Mr. Speaker,
Two days ago, over three thousand Stellantis workers got a call that Jeep production would be moving out of Brampton to the US. Despite billions in Liberal subsidies, the automaker is moving jobs and investment to Illinois, leaving former employees wondering how they will pay their mortgages and put food on the table.
The Prime Minister repeatedly bragged he would negotiate a “win” and “handle” Donald Trump. He has done the exact opposite, with disastrous results for Canadian workers. He has failed to deliver the promised “win” for workers in the automotive industry, and other critical sectors like softwood lumber, who don’t have the luxury of waiting for CUSMA to be renegotiated.
Since Mark Carney became Prime Minister, 97,700 more Canadians are out of work. These devastating job losses don’t include the 3,000 Stellantis workers left in limbo after Carney sold them out to the Americans. From farms and factories to steel and saw mills, the cost of Carney’s failures has hard-working Canadians paying the price.
That is why today, I am writing to request an Emergency Debate, pursuant to Standing Order 52, on the growing crisis in Canada’s automotive sector and the 3,000 jobs from the Brampton Stellantis plant being outsourced to the United States.
There is precedent set by the House for granting an emergency debate for job loss in the auto sector. On November 26, 2018 – when 2,500 auto jobs were threatened at the Oshawa GM plant – Speaker Regan granted an emergency debate on the crisis.
Given that the parliamentary calendar set by the Liberal government has not presented any opportunities or scheduled any opposition days to address the jobs lost at the Stellantis plant, and given the scale of this job loss and the responsibility of this House to protect auto jobs, it is incumbent upon you to grant this debate.
Failing to grant an Emergency Debate would be an insult to thousands of affected families. Conservatives will not stand by while Ontario’s auto sector is threatened because of the Prime Minister’s broken promises.
This is about real Canadian families who are being crushed by the Prime Minister’s failure on trade. Our country deserves a debate on this question, and we need it now.