OTTAWA/DUBLIN – Industry Minister Melanie Joly’s most senior staff and a top aide in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Office met with armoured vehicle maker Roshel in advance of its announced purchase of the Stellantis Brampton assembly plant.
According to filings in the federal lobbying registry, four top aides in Joly’s office met with Roshel in September and August. The records show both meetings included her then chief of staff Paul Moen and her director of policy David McFarlane. The same two aides met with Roshel again on Oct. 15.
Joly’s office told The Canadian Press on Wednesday that the minister had not met with Roshel prior to the Monday announcement that it would purchase the Stellantis plant. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether her team’s meetings with Roshel were sanctioned or if she was briefed on them.
The registry also shows the prime minister’s senior global affairs adviser, Matthew Hall, met with Roshel on Oct. 15. Two sources said the company’s CEO Roman Shimanov attended that meeting.
CTV News is not identifying the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The Prime Minister’s Office did not provide a comment to CTV News.
The lobbyist registry also shows the federal government held 10 high-level meetings with Stellantis in September alone. Carney’s deputy chief of staff Tim Krupa joined the final meeting listed on Sept. 29 along with Joly, Moen, and McFarlane.
The registry for Stellantis is up to date only until September and does not include any meetings that may have been held in October. Meetings that were requested by the government are not listed in the registry.
Carney acknowledges awareness of deal
Carney expressed outrage at the sale once it was announced, with the prime minister calling it a “betrayal” of the workers and Canada. But sources told CTV News that the federal government was actively engaged in discussions with both companies about the details of the deal, and privately the government did not stand in the way of it.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Dublin, Carney acknowledged that his government was aware of some of the plan and described the plant’s sale to Roshel as a “partial solution.”
“The issue for Stellantis is providing a global solution for the plant,” he said. “So the Roshel deal is a partial solution for the 1000s of workers there.”
“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 added.
A senior government official told CTV News on Thursday that Ottawa privately set expectations more broadly relating to Stellantis’s obligations to workers, and those expectations have not been met.
What’s included in the deal?
Full details of the sale agreement and the companies’ plans for the plant have not yet been disclosed. But CTV News has confirmed key elements of the plan that two sources said were shared with the federal government last week.
Included in the proposal is a pledge from Stellantis to pay the pensions for all eligible workers. The plant has been idle since 2023, with more than 2,200 workers on lay-off pay.
In a statement to CTV News Thursday, Stellantis spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin confirmed this element of the plan and said about 60 per cent of the Brampton workforce is retirement eligible.
“It is our priority to engage with Unifor through the collective bargaining process on a fair outcome to support employees,” she said.
Gosselin also confirmed previous reporting from CTV News that Stellantis has offered to pay back $24 million to the government, which was paid out as part of an agreement to retool the plant and keep minimum employment levels.
Records show the government has paid Stellantis at least $222 million to retool its Brampton and Windsor, Ont., plants. The government has not provided a comment to CTV News to address whether Ottawa is in agreement with Stellantis on the sum to be repaid.
Roshel’s CEO has indicated in public comments that a European car company has expressed interest in the plant, should the Roshel purchase go through.
Two sources tell CTV News that executives from Jaguar visited the Stellantis facility on Oct. 14. Shimanov said 25 per cent of the plant would be re-leased by Stellantis, and the rest could be used by a combination of other carmakers and his own company’s defence manufacturing.
In a statement sent to CTV News about the details of the plan that were shared with the government last week, Joly’s spokesperson Mathis Denis said the government “has not been involved in or supportive of the private agreement announced between Stellantis and Roshel.”
“To date, the government’s communications with Stellantis have focused on finding a path forward that protects jobs and maintains manufacturing at the Brampton Assembly Plant,” he said. “Within these discussions, we heard many proposals, none of which reflect our expectations for an acceptable outcome.”
He added that Joly “at no point” endorsed Roshel’s proposal to buy the Stellantis plant.
Denis said the minister and officials are in regular contact with Stellantis as it seeks to resolve the dispute over the payments the government has given the company to keep its operations in Canada. The deal dates back to 2022 and in it Ottawa said it would give the company up to $529 million for Stellantis to retool both its plants in Brampton and Windsor.
“The message from the Minister has been the same from the beginning: uphold your commitments to the workers, the union, and continue your operations. The same expectations of Stellantis have been emphasized directly to Roshel,” Denis said.
Joly will meet with Unifor, Stellantis and representatives with the Ontario government in Toronto on Thursday.
Conservatives demand details on amount of taxpayer money at stake
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said during a press conference in Calgary on Thursday that he wants answers from the government on how much money it has sent to Stellantis, how much will be repaid, and whether any job guarantees were tied to the federal funding.
Poilievre also accused the prime minister of betraying the Brampton Stellantis workers with his comments earlier this week.
“In a matter of two days, Mark Carney has gone from saying that the sale was an outrageous betrayal to a quote ‘partial solution’,” Poilievre said.
“So which is it?”
With files from CTV News Ottawa bureau manager Stephanie Ha
