Stellantis assembly plant sale breaks funding deal, Joly warns

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In a letter to Stellantis CEO Trevor Longley after the pair met Thursday afternoon to discuss the plant, the industry minister gave the company 30 days to undo its breaches of the agreement.

As the federal government comes under increasing fire about whether it gave the green light to Stellantis to sell its idled Brampton assembly plant to defence manufacturer Roshel, Industry Minister Melanie Joly has given the auto maker formal notice that the sale breaks its funding deal with the government.

The notice came in a letter to Stellantis CEO Trevor Longley after the pair met Thursday afternoon to discuss the plant, along with Unifor leaders representing the 2,100 laid-off workers, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

“Stellantis provided Action Plans purporting to address Stellantis’ breaches of the Agreement. These Action Plans were premised on Stellantis’ continuing ownership and operation of the Brampton Plant,” Joly said in the letter, which also gave the company 30 days to undo its breaches of the agreement or the government will demand return of any funding. The letter didn’t specify how much money the government would be asking for.

Joly and Prime Minister Mark Carney have faced increasing questions over how much the government knew about the planned sale and whether it approved.

In her letter, Joly said that over the course of her discussions with the company, she never gave that potential sale the green light.

“At no point have I or my office indicated support for a sale to Roshel, nor given any indication that such sale would cure Stellantis’ existing breaches of the agreement. This is a clear breach of the agreement, and you were informed that I viewed any sale as a continuation of the existing breaches,” she wrote.

Her comments came after Carney, on the sidelines of a summit in Ireland on Thursday, sought to draw a distinction between knowing of a potential sale and playing a role in it.

“The issue for Stellantis is providing a global solution for the plant. So the Roshel deal is a partial solution for thousands of workers there.

Speaking from Calgary, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said Carney’s language amounted to a shift from several days earlier…

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