DUBLIN
Prime Minister Mark Carney says the sale of Stellantis's idled Brampton auto plant to armoured vehicle maker Roshel Inc. is a "partial solution" that breaches the automaker's obligations to Canadian workers.
Carney said Thursday he had been informed of "some aspects" of the plan before the deal was announced earlier this week.
"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," Carney said while at a European Political Community meeting in Dublin, Ireland.
He said that while selling the plant is a "partial solution" for some of the workers who lost their jobs, it leaves others out in the cold.
"We will pursue all of this. A partial solution is a step, it is not a global solution. That is a betrayal," he said.
More than 2,000 workers at the Stellantis plant have been out of work since the company halted operations in 2023 to retool the facility to produce the Jeep Compass.
Stellantis paused the retooling plan in early 2025, announcing in October of that year that the Jeep Compass would be built at a plant in Illinois instead.
The Brampton plant's future was left in limbo until Monday, when Stellantis announced it was selling the facility to Roshel in a deal that could see Stellantis lease some of the property back.
Carney explained that Stellantis has an obligation to "all of the workers" at the plant.
"That's the responsibility of Stellantis, that's the responsibility they made multiple times, including in the battery deal that they signed with the government," he said.
Stellantis says there are still about 1,800 workers from the Brampton plant on layoff.
Since 2023, those workers have continued to receive 70 per cent of their pay, as well as benefits.
After announcing the plan, Stellantis issued a statement Tuesday, saying it would voluntarily pay the government subsidies back, which amount to at least $220 million so far.
The company also said it will work with the union "toward a fair outcome" for the workers.
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly will attend a meeting in Toronto on Thursday on the federal government's behalf in an attempt to find a way forward for laid-off Stellantis workers.
A spokesperson for Joly said Wednesday that she "had no part in negotiating the deal with Stellantis or Roshel" and didn't meet with Roshel.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote a letter to Carney on Tuesday warning against the possibility that the plant would be used to assemble "Chinese-made knock-down kits."
Asked about that possibility on Thursday, Carney didn't specifically address the assembly of kit-cars, saying only that his government wants "real opportunity" for autoworkers with existing partners.
He said Chinese investment in Canada's auto sector remains a possibility.
"The extent to which there's Chinese investment depends on a variety of factors. It will be one of the discussions with [Chinese] President Xi," Carney said.
The prime minister is currently on a world tour from Europe to Asia, where he will attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18 and 19.
He is expected to meet privately with Chinese President Xi Jinping there.
e2gold.ca reported earlier this week that the sale of the idled factory, which once employed more than 3,000, is expected to close by year's end.
This story was written by the e2gold.ca newsroom from reporting by The Globe and Mail, CBC News, Yahoo News and Global News. Quotes are checked word for word against that reporting.