Industry Minister Says He Was Unaware Foreign Workers Coming to Subsidized Battery Plant

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says he didn’t know that foreign workers would come to Windsor, Ont., to work on an electric vehicle battery plant subsidized with $15 billion in taxpayer funds. When asked by reporters in Ottawa on Nov. 21 whether he knew there would be temporary foreign workers brought in to set up the NextStar Energy battery plant, he replied, “No, not necessarily.” “But I’m saying I’m not surprised that you would have transfer of knowledge,” he added. “No one has done batteries in North America before, so you need certain key people to transfer the knowledge.” The plant is a joint venture between European company Stellantis and LG Energy Solution, headquartered in South Korea....