As Stelco rejects demand to halt layoffs, NDP leaders call on Carney to nationalize steelmaker
Federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis, Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles call for Stelco to be nationalized
Federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis and Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles are calling on the federal government to nationalize Hamilton-based steelmaker Stelco, amid layoffs Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says violate the company's agreement under the Investment Canada Act.
asserted
Joly → reject → Act
In a release Tuesday, Lewis said the federal government should take "immediate action" after Stelco's American owner Cleveland-Cliffs broke its commitment to maintain the same number of unionized workers and similar numbers of non-union workers for five years when it bought the company in 2024.
asserted
it → say → 2024
Joly has vowed to take Cleveland-Cliffs to court, saying Saturday in a post on X that "all options are on the table" as government lawyers consider next steps.
asserted
lawyers → vow → steps
But Lewis said Tuesday that going through the courts will take too long to save those whose jobs are in the crosshairs.
asserted
jobs → say → crosshairs
"Canada cannot afford to lose its steel industry," he said.
asserted
he → afford → industry
"If we’re serious about saving these jobs and the Canadian steel industry, we need immediate action."
asserted
we → ’re → action
An industrial worker walks near the Stelco Hamilton Works on Oct. 9.
asserted
worker → walk → Oct.
The American steelmaker announced 300 to 350 layoffs at the plant amid the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war.
asserted
steelmaker → announce → war
Lewis noted that the United Kingdom nationalized British Steel in July, saying the move protected "thousands of jobs."
asserted
move → note → jobs
In September, the U.K. government announced plans for the public takeover of another steelmaker, Specialty Steel.
asserted
government → announce → steelmaker
Lewis also jabbed at Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves, who has expressed support for the U.S. tariffs on foreign steel that led to these layoffs, saying they "are designed to deindustrialize our economy and destroy our manufacturing base."
Goncalves maintains the company is within the law to conduct layoffs because they are temporary, until Canada and the United States reach a trade deal.
"There is no provision in the contract that I have to keep employment at a certain level every single day of the five years," Goncalves told CBC's Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday.
asserted
Goncalves → jab → Sunday
"If that was an imposition of the Canadian government, I would not have accepted."
asserted
I → accept → government
Ontario NDP says Ford should offer steel industry relief
asserted
Ford → say → relief
Speaking at Queen's Park on Tuesday, Stiles pushed for Ontario Premier Doug Ford to "work with the federal government to push Cleveland-Cliffs to give up their ownership interest in Stelco and establish public ownership and Canadian management.
asserted
Ford → speak → ownership
“The cost of not doing this is thousands of jobs.
asserted
cost → do → jobs
It’s spinoffs.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
It’s the whole community of Hamilton that is impacted," she said.
asserted
she → ’ → Hamilton
“The industry will lose out if we let Stelco go under.”
asserted
Stelco → lose → ?
In a release issued the same day, Stiles and her Ontario NDP colleagues from Hamilton — MPPs Sandy Shaw and Robin Lennox — also said Ford should "get back to work and deliver a tariff relief package for the steel industry," as well as a "Buy Ontario First" procurement strategy.
asserted
Ford → issue → Ontario
The Ontario government remains on a 21-week summer break that ends Oct. 27.
asserted
that → remain → break
CBC Hamilton asked Ford's office for a response to the calls for nationalization but did not hear back by the time of publication.
asserted
Hamilton → ask → publication
When asked last week whether his government would consider such an action, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would wait to hear Cleveland-Cliffs' response to Joly's letter demanding the jobs be reinstated, and then he would "take appropriate action."
asserted
he → ask → action
The company has since declined to reverse the layoffs.
asserted
company → decline → layoffs
Time now to consider public ownership, prof says
Nicolas Lamp, associate professor at the faculty of law and school of policy studies at Queen's University, told CBC Hamilton last week he thinks the government should step in and take public ownership before Canada's steel expertise is lost.
asserted
expertise → consider → ownership
“At the moment when Canada is trying to build a lot of infrastructure, major plants, major projects, it's really a question of whether Canada should just let all that expertise kind of die," he said.
asserted
he → try → infrastructure
Lamp pointed to the purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline from Kinder Morgan in 2018 as an example of the federal government taking on major infrastructure from a private company.
asserted
government → point → company
Mike Watt, whose career at Stelco spans 20 years, standing outside the Stelco Hamilton Works on Oct. 9 after receiving a layoff notice.
asserted
career → span → notice
“I'm not saying we should definitely nationalize it,” he said.
asserted
he → say → it
“I would say that the Canadian government really has to look very closely at what the reasons for these layoffs are and whether a company that was more sympathetic — that had the Canadian workers and also the Canadian national interest in mind — would act similarly.”
asserted
that → say → mind
Last week, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he supports the government taking legal action against Stelco.
asserted
government → say → Stelco
He reiterated that Tuesday, but said the best way to fix this problem would be getting a deal to remove the tariffs.
asserted
way → reiterate → tariffs
"Our message to the prime minister is get back to the table and get a tariff-free deal," he said in Windsor on Tuesday.
"
asserted
he → get → Tuesday
The workers at Stelco, Stellantis, Ford and every other trade-dependent company in this country are relying on the PM to keep his word and get a deal."
asserted
workers → rely → deal
The Aporia
