Last week, Volkswagen announced it will build its first overseas electric vehicle battery gigafactory in St. Thomas, Ontario. The federal and provincial governments declined to say what they’d paid to lure Volkswagen to Canada rather than the U.S. but the Financial Times reported the price was around $15 billion. That’s a lot of public money going to subsidize a private company, even one that will support thousands of jobs.
First, we’ll hear from stakeholders and experts on the impact of the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act, and what it could mean here, north of the U.S. border. Then, we’ll sit down with the man some have dubbed Canada’s energizer bunny, Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
In this episode: Minister Champagne, Lana Payne, the national president of Unifor, Matt Poirier, senior policy director with the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, John Lester, an executive fellow at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, Marissa Beck, director of Clean Growth with the Canadian Climate Institute, Jean Simard, the president and CEO of the Aluminum Association of Canada, Brian Kingston, the president and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association,...
“It’s Political” is produced by Althia Raj and Michal Stein. Sean Pattendon mixed the program. Our theme music is by Isaac Joel.
althiaraj Global polluters are fighting tooth and nail to keep their profits. Undermining democratic institutions and buying up mainstream media and rightwing politicians.