Industry Minister Mélanie Joly is scheduled to hold a four-way meeting in Toronto with Stellantis, Unifor and Ontario government representatives following Stellantis’ decision to sell its Brampton assembly plant to Roshel.
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Industry Minister Mélanie Joly is set to hold a four-way meeting in Toronto on Thursday with automaker Stellantis, the union representing more than 9,000 workers in Canada, and representatives of the Ontario government.
The meeting comes days after Stellantis announced it was selling its Brampton, Ont., assembly plant to Canadian armoured vehicle manufacturer Roshel for an undisclosed amount.
More than 2,000 workers have been laid off from the plant since it was idled in 2023.
The deal has drawn criticism from Unifor and the federal government. Prime Minister Mark Carney initially called the sale a “betrayal” to laid off Stellantis workers and Canadians as a whole, saying the deal “violates the obligations that Stellantis has under several agreements.”
On Thursday, Carney addressed reports that the federal government played an active role in discussions between Stellantis and Roshel before an agreement was reached. He said “Being informed or being aware of some aspects is not the same as Stellantis providing a global solution for those workers at the plant, which is their obligation,” and described the Roshel deal as a “partial solution.”
Carney said, “The betrayal is not fulfilling all the obligations for all of the workers. That’s the responsibility of Stellantis,” adding, “That’s the responsibility they made multiple times, including in the battery deal that they signed with the government.”
Roshel CEO Roman Shimonov said his Brampton-based company is willing to hire back some of the Stellantis employees laid off when Stellantis halted operations in 2023. The defence company also plans to lease about one-quarter of the site’s space back to Stellantis for automotive work.
Joly’s office denied reports late Wednesday that she was involved in negotiations leading to the deal, saying the minister never met with Roshel and that she participated in discussions between Stellantis and Unifor to find a way forward after Stellantis decided to move production previously earmarked for the Brampton plant to the United States.
According to the federal government, the shift was in violation of Stellantis’ commitments tied to a federal commitment of up to $529 million through the Strategic Response Fund announced in 2022 to help Stellantis retool its Brampton and Windsor facilities to produce electrified vehicles.
Stellantis spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin said the company would repay public funds it has received, but declined to comment on the amount due to confidentiality provisions. In a statement this week, Gosselin said Stellantis had “offered to voluntarily return the government support received for Brampton Assembly’s original retooling plan.”
Collective bargaining negotiations between Stellantis and Unifor broke down in September after the automaker signed a memorandum of understanding with Roshel to target a sale of the facility. Unifor national president Lana Payne called the sale a “worst-case scenario,” saying “Stellantis has betrayed our members with an underhanded deal to sell the plant and walk away from its commitments to these workers.”
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