Automotive News Canada - November 2020 - 8

8

EVS FOR
OAKVILLE
How the threat of
* N O V E M B E R 2020

An unlikely
partnership of
fierce political
rivals 'knew what
needed to be done'
to drive the Ford
plant into the future

U

By JOHN IRWIN

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA

NIFOR
PRESIDENT
Jerry Dias had
upcoming contract talks with
the Detroit
Three on his
mind when he received disturbing news about Ford's sole
assembly plant in Canada.
It was June, and a U.S.based forecasting firm was
warning that the facility in
Oakville, Ont., would not build
the next-generation Edge crossover and faced possible closure
by 2023. The news was first
reported by Automotive News
Canada.
Dias made a flurry of phone
calls to Ford executives in
Canada and the United States
who did not deny the report.
He then called Navdeep Bains,
federal economic development
minister.
Dias urged Bains to " get
on the phone and call all three
of the Detroit Three and say
that you've got the money to
invest " in new product.
It was a critical moment
in a series of unlikely events
spanning months of pandemic-fueled turmoil for the auto
industry, ending with Ford

Dias: Bureaucratic walls
" tumbled " to get the deal
done. F I L E P H O T O

choosing Oakville for a $1.8-billion investment for electric-vehicle production.
The cast of key players
included the federal and provincial governments, led by
fierce political rivals, who
forged a once-unthinkable
partnership by working closely
together during the pandemic,
setting the stage for $590 million in combined support for
the investment.
Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim
Farley, named to the position
over the summer, joined other
top executives in Michigan
and became actively involved
in finding a solution for the
Oakville plant.
Unifor, sensing that Canada
was running out of time to
secure much-needed investments in future vehicle technology, rolled the dice and
pushed for EV production.
In the end, Ford would
choose to invest in Oakville
instead of Mexico, as was originally its plan, according to the
federal and provincial governments.

closure became the

'art of the
possible'
" This is exactly the kind of
investment we've been looking
for for years, " said Vic Fedeli,
Ontario minister of economic
development, job creation and
trade.
It was a major win for the
Canadian auto industry which
had been in decline for years.
According to the International
Organization of Motor Vehicle
Manufacturers, Canada in 1999
was the fifth-largest automo-

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Vic Fedeli, Ontario minister
of economic development,
job creation and trade, got
the ball rolling on talks that
would lead to an agreement
on Oakville. F I L E P H O T O

tive manufacturer in the world
by production volume, with
3.06 million vehicles produced.
By 2019, it produced 1.92 million vehicles, ranking it 12th
globally.
In fact, news of Oakville's
potential demise might have
helped to save the plant and
the jobs of more than 3,000
hourly employees.
Dias said learning of Ford's
plans for the Edge months
before Detroit Three contract
talks were to formally begin
was the union's big " break "
in negotiations. It gave labour
and the federal and provincial
governments ample time to
seek a solution with company
executives by the Sept. 21 expiration date of Unifor's contract
with Ford.
A shorter lead time " would
have made it a lot more difficult, based off having a shorter
runway, " Dias said.

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The roots of the Oakville
deal can be traced back to
February, weeks before the
COVID-19 pandemic sent the
industry and the economy
at large into a tailspin in the
spring. It was then that Bains

Get on the phone and
call all three of the
Detroit Three and say
that you've got the
money to invest.

JERRY DIAS

The Unifor president's advice
to Navdeep Bains, federal
economic development minister
met with Ford Canada CEO
Dean Stoneley at the Canadian
International AutoShow in
Toronto.
The fact that the two spoke
was not unusual in and of
itself. In his role as industry minister since 2015, Bains
has made a point of building
relationships with executives
throughout the automotive
industry and staying in touch
with them.
The conversation was notable instead for what Bains said
to Stoneley. According to a federal government official familiar with the background, but
who requested anonymity,
Bains made it clear to Stoneley
that Ottawa was willing to " go
a little higher " on financial
support if Ford brought " something green and substantial "
to the plant. Combined federal and provincial support for
assembly plant investments
typically accounted for about
20 per cent of a project's total
cost.
The federal government
under Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau has made the adoption of zero-emission vehicles
a major component of its climate agenda. The government

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Federal Economic
Development Minister
Navdeep Bains, pictured,
and Ford CEO Jim Farley
discussed " the art of the
possible " in early talks to
save the Oakville plant.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

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Automotive News Canada - November 2020

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