Canada's Auto Industry at a Breaking Point | Kingston's Warning to Parliament

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]They take those vehicles and they dump them into countries that are naive enough to open the door to it. So, this is a huge mistake. They will not invest here. They will not employ Canadians and they will not create a Canadian supply chain. Thank begin with Mr. Kingston.

[00:00:14]You you said you said no auto market without a US market that our number one priority has to be renewing a Kuzma.

[00:00:23]Why do you think that should be the first priority?

[00:00:27]Well, the Canadian economy and and the Canadian auto sector is totally dependent on access to the US market.

[00:00:33]So, we can talk about other suggestions here to strengthen the the economy here domestically to make Canada more competitive place, but we build more than we need and we export 90% of our production into the US. It's the largest, wealthiest, most diverse economy in the world. So, if we don't have access to the US, we simply don't have an industry and all you have to do is look back to pre-auto pact, you know, 60 years ago when we didn't have a free trade and we in vehicles with the the United States. It was a much smaller industry. It was less efficient. So, it's fundamental without US access the industry is not what it is.

[00:01:07]So, you will agree with me when I say that we should put more energy into renewing Kuzma Kuzma rather than traveling around the world to sign a small tiny little agreements with other places. Would agree with that diversification does not solve our economic challenges. The the Canadian economy is is subject to the gravity model of trade. You do the most trade with a country that is the closest with the largest economy. We happen to sit beside the United States of America.

[00:01:33]That is where our priority should be.

[00:01:36]And Mr. Kingston, and Mr. Kingston February 16th you said it was a bad idea to authorize the entry of Chinese EVs into the Canadian market and today you repeat this statement and you said that we should actually pull out from this agreement that we should get out of this Canada-China agreement.

[00:01:53]Why?

[00:01:55]Major strategic error. The the Chinese do not compete on a level playing field.

[00:01:59]They subsidize their industry to the tune of 230 billion US dollars, far exceeding any level of subsidization that you would see here in North America. Their average wage at an assembly plant in China is between two and four US dollars an hour. At a Canadian unionized uniform plant, it's $45 an hour plus benefits, plus pension.

[00:02:17]You simply cannot compete with the Chinese because they're not playing by the same rules.

[00:02:21]So, by allowing those vehicles in, we're going to undermine our own domestic industry at a very sensitive time. On top of it, China is a major irritant to the relationship with the United States.

[00:02:31]So, we put a vehicle-sized irritant on the table at the worst possible time.

[00:02:38]Do you think that this Canada-China agreement is a break on investments when it coming to developing the auto industry here in Canada?

[00:02:48]Absolute I mean, we've had We're very fortunate to have five OEMs that have invested here, employ Canadians. We're now opening the door to Chinese manufacturers that have no investments here, no footprint, no supply base, and no commitments to do so. Not only that, but Chinese OEMs don't typically invest in the markets they want to access.

[00:03:04]That's not their model. They ship They have massive overcapacity in China, two to three times their own domestic demand. They take those vehicles and they dump them into countries that are naive enough to open the door to it. So, this is a huge mistake. They will not invest here. They will not employ Canadians, and they will not create a Canadian supply chain.

[00:03:22]Merci beaucoup.

[00:03:24]I think of Thank you. The other point that you mentioned, you said that there's no protection measure when it comes to cybersecurity in this agreement. And that's a very serious when it comes to the kind of data that would be communicated through these Chinese EVs. It's a significant cyber risk. And in 2024, the government did commit to putting in place rules around Chinese connected and autonomous vehicle hardware and software to follow what the US had done, but there's been no progress on that. So, there are no rules or guardrails in place. These vehicles can collect significant amounts of data.

[00:04:01]We don't know where that data will be stored. They can also be controlled remotely, hence why the US has taken a very firm approach on Chinese software and do is doing everything possible to get it out of the supply chain. We have no protections in place whatsoever and these vehicles are here now.

[00:04:15]Mr. C Mr. William Thank you, Mr. Williams. Do you believe that it's important to insist that 100% of of EVs should be sold in the country?

[00:04:27]Shouldn't we leave this to the consumers free choice as to whether they want a gas-fueled or an electric vehicle?

[00:04:34]Consumer choice. You know, that doesn't mean we don't have incentive programs.

[00:04:37]That doesn't mean we don't work on infrastructure.

[00:04:39]You know, the challenge is that that we've come a long, long way in terms of electric vehicle technology. But my biggest fear all along has been as if we when we push the that technology artificially, consumers uptake has to match the actual product. So, for example, in some of the coldest parts of the country we've had dealers have to take back multiple vehicles because they can't work in those climates. That that problem's going to be solved, but not but not today. So, we can for rural, remote communities, long distances, we have to have a solution that's made in Canada as opposed to a solution that's forced through a pipeline. And that's the and people know that I'm not anti-EV. We're in fact we're very bullish on on EV technology. It's a great technology, particularly in urban environments. Great technology for a second car families where one car is used used for longer distances and one car is used internally. But but the the the the the planning behind the targets has to has to be in conjunction with what's what's possible.

[00:05:29]Mr. William only only tell him Thank you, Mr. Williams. We I agree with you. I'm not against EVs, but I think we let consumers choose when they have small distances to travel, for example. Oh, time.