Canada wants its money back. Hundreds of millions of dollars. Industry Minister Melanie Joly announced it Tuesday with barely concealed satisfaction: Stellantis and General Motors betrayed taxpayers’ trust, and now it’s time to settle accounts.
The story is simple and embarrassing for the automakers involved. Early this decade, Ottawa granted Stellantis just over 1 billion Canadian dollars (731 million USD) to modernize the Brampton, Ontario plant and guarantee local production. The deal was crystal clear: money in exchange for jobs, employment, investment. Then came the surprise: Stellantis announced it would shift Jeep Compass production from Ontario to Illinois. A textbook betrayal that sent the Canadian government into a fury.
“Much of our support was tied to production”, Joly explained with a tone suggesting far more than her words revealed. And if the money’s already been paid? Then we want it back, complete with the threat of legal action.
Stellantis defends itself with talk of a “sustainable manufacturing footprint” and 240 employees transferred to Windsor. A consolation prize, sure, but one that doesn’t erase the sense of mockery.
And General Motors? After receiving 260 million Canadian dollars for the Ingersoll plant, designated for electric van production, GM backpedaled citing “weak demand”. The market’s not biting, better cut our losses. Never mind that Ottawa had believed in those green promises. Last week, GM also canceled a third shift at the Oshawa plant. Result? Joly wants that money back too.
Canada has learned its lesson: public subsidies for the automotive industry only work when accompanied by ironclad clauses and credible threats. Because automakers, as everyone knows, love public funding as much as they hate binding commitments. And when the going gets tough, production moves elsewhere.
But this time, at least, someone’s asking for the bill. The real question isn’t whether Stellantis and GM will return the money. It’s whether any government will finally understand that subsidies without consequences are just gifts with a corporate bow on top.
