Ottawa, ON – Rick Perkins, Conservative Shadow Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry, issued the following statement regarding the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s new report on electric vehicle battery plants and allegations of using temporary foreign workers instead of Canadians to work at the plants:

 “Today we learned that the multibillion-dollar subsidy to Stellantis may be funding as many as 1600 jobs that won’t be going to Canadians, but to foreign workers instead, despite the Prime Minister’s promises of jobs for Canadians. This is not acceptable.

 “Justin Trudeau has also been hiding the details of the massive corporate subsidies he gave to electric vehicle battery plants for months, but the Parliamentary Budget Officer let us know today that the costs are much higher than the Prime Minister has been letting on.

 “According to the PBO, Canadians’ subsidy to the three battery manufacturers may be as large as $43.6 billion, almost $6 billion dollars more than the government told Canadians. These massive overruns are happening before these large projects have even gotten off the ground.

 “The Prime Minister must do two things. First, he must come clean and release the contracts he signed with Stellantis, Volkswagen, and Northvolt so that taxpayers can know how much money they are on the hook for and what provisions have been secured to actually ensure that there are good, long-term jobs for Canadians. Second, he must guarantee that Canadian tax dollars won’t fund jobs unless they are for Canadian workers. 

 “Common Sense Conservatives will ensure Canadians’ tax dollars are used wisely, and that new jobs in Canada are exclusively for Canadians.”