Save Canada’s auto industry: Bring Stellantis under public ownership now!
The Communist Party of Canada condemns the decision by the transnational monopoly Stellantis to cancel production plans at its Brampton Assembly Plant. This move, shifting production of the Jeep Compass to the United States, is yet another act of corporate treachery by the auto giants against Canadian workers and a direct consequence of decades of successive Liberal and Conservative governments surrendering economic sovereignty to U.S. monopolies through disastrous “free trade” agreements.
The response from the Carney government, hollow threats of legal action that won’t materialize and empty assurances that it’s “time to talk” to the U.S., is wholly inadequate and will cost more jobs beyond the immediate 3,000 lost in Brampton. The transnational corporate elite has made its loyalty clear: it has no national allegiance and will shift production to wherever it can maximize profits and secure the most favourable deals, as seen by its eagerness to court the Trump administration. Canadian workers are expendable in this global race to the bottom. The government’s suggestion that workers can simply “move to Windsor” is an insult, demonstrating a complete disregard for the families and communities built around this plant.
This is not an isolated incident. It is the latest chapter in a long history of corporate blackmail and public theft. Stellantis, formerly Chrysler, has a history of feeding at the public trough. In the 2009 bailout, Canadian governments provided $13.7 billion in support to GM and Chrysler, with taxpayers ultimately absorbing a loss of nearly $3.7 billion. Just two years ago, the federal and Ontario governments promised Stellantis and Volkswagen up to $28 billion in performance incentives, a massive transfer of public wealth into private, foreign hands. Now, Stellantis is turning its back on the workers and community that sustained it. The recent revelation that Ontario has withheld funding due to Stellantis failing to meet its commitments exposes the entire “auto pact” as a sham, a corporate welfare scheme with no binding guarantees for jobs or production.
The Carney government’s strategy is a doubling down on the failed policies that got us here. Pinning hopes on the 2026 USMCA review is a recipe for more disaster. This deal, like NAFTA before it, was never about fair trade; it is a corporate constitution designed to empower monopolies, pit workers against each other across borders, and systematically dismantle sovereignty. Deeper integration with the United States, as advocated by both the Liberals and the Conservatives, means deeper integration with an imperialist power rapidly descending towards fascism and driving towards a catastrophic world war. This path offers only more layoffs, more concessions, a harsh austerity regime turning all social spending into military spending, and the final erosion of Canadian independence.
Contrast this with some of the recent government policies in Mexico, where the government is championing the development of “Olinia,” an affordable, Mexican-designed and assembled EV. While facing its own challenges, this project represents a push for national industrial sovereignty, a concept that Canadian governments have utterly abandoned in their servitude to foreign capital.
The era of our politicians begging at boardroom tables must end. The solution is not more talks or better corporate trade deals. The solution is to take the auto industry out of private, foreign, for-profit hands.
We demand:
Nationalize the auto industry, starting with Stellantis: The federal government must take over Stellantis operations in Canada. This must be the first step toward creating a publicly owned and democratically controlled auto industry. Public ownership means the people, not a board of directors in another country, control the profits and direct the industry to meet the needs of people across Canada.
Build a Canadian car and expand mass transit: A publicly owned auto sector should produce an affordable electric Canadian passenger vehicle and to rapidly expand manufacturing capacity for municipal and inter-urban public transit, such as buses and light rail, facilitating a genuine just, green transition.
Enact plant closure legislation with teeth: Immediately pass legislation requiring corporations to justify any closure or mass layoff before a public tribunal with the power to prohibit the closure and impose severe penalties, including jail time for executives and full repayment of every dollar of public subsidy received.
Expand Employment Insurance now: Raise EI benefits to 90% of previous earnings for the full duration of unemployment to protect all workers from the crises of capitalism.
Withdraw from USMCA, NATO, and NORAD: End the “free trade” deals that sacrifice our jobs and sovereignty. Pursue multilateral, mutually beneficial trade with the world. Adopt an independent foreign policy of peace and disarmament, redirecting the billions wasted on militarization to social needs such as health, housing and education.
The choice is clear: nationalize the auto industry or witness its continued destruction. The time for action is now.
Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada