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January 29th, 2019

NDP Secures Invitation to GM CEO to Appear Before Committee

OTTAWA – On Tuesday morning, NDP Industry Critic Brian Masse (Windsor West) secured a key request to invite General Motors Chairwoman and CEO Mary Barra to appear before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. Masse’s motion requesting to invite Ms. Barra to committee comes following GM’s announcement of closure of their Oshawa plant, causing thousands of Canadian job losses.

“GM claims the need to close the Oshawa facility to generate additional resources to invest in innovation. But during the first three quarters of 2018, the company generated $ 6 billion in profits,” state Masse. “It is an important step to bring the GM CEO to committee to answer questions related to the future of Canada’s manufacturing industry.”

GM received billions in Canadian tax dollars as incentive to stay in Canada. Meanwhile, GM Canada is losing 34% of its workforce with the closing of the Oshawa plant.

“The Prime Minister and the Industry Minister love to talk about innovation and a high-tech economy, but they have done nothing to implement the national auto strategy that would ensure that Canadians actually get jobs,” stated Masse. “This is what abandoning manufacturing has led to. Liberals campaigned on transitioning away from manufacturing and apparently they’re getting what they wished for as workers go on unemployment insurance.”