Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Mark Carney announces a multi-billion dollar Via Rail investment

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Mark Carney announces a multi-billion dollar Via Rail investment · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: Just a short time ago in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Prime
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  Speaker 1: Minister Mark Carney made a major infrastructure announcement. In the
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  Speaker 1: midst of the trade war with the United States, Carney
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  Speaker 1: says billions of dollars will be spent on new rail
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  Speaker 1: cars for Via Rail. All of them will be built
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  Speaker 1: and maintained in Canada. Here's a bit more of what
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  Speaker 1: he had to say.
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  Speaker 2: For too long, we bought from abroad what we were
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  Speaker 2: more than capable of building right here at home. We're
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  Speaker 2: bringing that work back and we're turbocharging it. Canada needs better,
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  Speaker 2: more reliable passenger rail. Our rail cars on our long
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  Speaker 2: distance and remote routes are more than 70 years old.
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  Speaker 2: They were built when the NHL had six teams. Goalies
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  Speaker 2: wouldn't wear masks. The Leafs would win the cup. That's
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  Speaker 2: a long time ago. Those old cars... Things are changing,
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  Speaker 2: even for the Leafs. Those old cars have served our
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  Speaker 2: country well, but they're long overdue for retirement. It's time
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  Speaker 2: to build new ones, to build them here at home.
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  Speaker 1: CBC's Olivia Stefanovic was listening in on today's announcement and
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  Speaker 1: she joins us now live from Ottawa. Olivia, what are
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  Speaker 1: the key details in today's announcement?
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  Speaker 3: Well, Prime Minister Mark Kearney announced that rail manufacturing is
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  Speaker 3: returning to Canada today. as Canada tries to become less
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  Speaker 3: reliant on the United States and more independent as a
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  Speaker 3: country and have a stronger economy here at home, of course. Now,
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  Speaker 3: Mark Carney says that $ 4. 7 billion by the federal government
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  Speaker 3: will go towards this project to create 300... 313 new
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  Speaker 3: carriages for Via Rail for passenger purposes, of course. And
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  Speaker 3: he noted that much of the Via Rail passenger trains,
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  Speaker 3: cars that is, that are on the tracks right now
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  Speaker 3: were built in the United States. So this is all
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  Speaker 3: part of a move again to bring this sector back
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  Speaker 3: to Canada. And these rail cars will be built and
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  Speaker 3: manufactured in Ontario and Quebec with the help, of course,
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  Speaker 3: with this multi-national rail manufacturing company, Alstom, which is based
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  Speaker 3: in France, of course, an ally of Canada. So this
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  Speaker 3: is a significant announcement today for Canada's industry, for Canada's
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  Speaker 3: manufacturing sector. The government billed this as the biggest historic
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  Speaker 3: manufacturing announcement. And we were told by ministers who started
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  Speaker 3: this press conference that this is the biggest federal investment
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  Speaker 3: in Via Rail's history. The first new car from this
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  Speaker 3: project that the prime minister announced today is set to
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  Speaker 3: hit the tracks by 2031. And the rest of the
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  Speaker 3: fleet is set to be operational four years later, so
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  Speaker 3: in 2035, Natasha.
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  Speaker 1: Olivia, inevitably the questions go back to the reason why
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  Speaker 1: all of this infrastructure is being invested in, with the
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  Speaker 1: urgency of it, the sort of patriotism around the announcements.
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  Speaker 1: What did Carney have to say about the ongoing trade
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  Speaker 1: war with the United States?
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  Speaker 3: Well, the prime minister says he's not waiting for a
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  Speaker 3: phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump and not refreshing
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  Speaker 3: his social media either. He, in fact, brought up the
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  Speaker 3: trade discussions and lack of discussions, that is, and the
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  Speaker 3: trade dispute with the U.S. in his opening remarks on
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  Speaker 3: his own, defending his decision to walk away from the
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  Speaker 3: proposed deal with the U.S. two weeks ago, calling it
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  Speaker 3: the right decision and noting that the U.S. tariffs that
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  Speaker 3: were put in place afterwards because of Carney's decision are
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  Speaker 3: meant to divide Canadians. And he called this a miscalculation
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  Speaker 3: on the part of the Trump administration. He also gave
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  Speaker 3: us some more details about why he walked away, saying
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  Speaker 3: that the terms of this proposal would have just hurt
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  Speaker 3: Canadian industries too much, would have made them not competitive.
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  Speaker 3: That includes the steel, aluminum, auto sectors, even forestry. The
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  Speaker 3: prime minister also mentioned that new relief is on the
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  Speaker 3: way for the forestry sector. But of course, some work
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  Speaker 3: has to be done by the Forestry Task Force. He
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  Speaker 3: also responded to comments by the Trump administration, including Commerce
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  Speaker 3: Secretary Howard Lutnick, who suggested that Carney is continuing this
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  Speaker 3: trade war for political purposes. Here's how he responded to that.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think, with all respect, appointed, unelected cabinet members
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  Speaker 2: in the United States are experts on Canadian politics. There
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  Speaker 2: are a few issues... that the United States was arguing
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  Speaker 2: right up to the last hour, red lines, we're not
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  Speaker 2: going to change, boom, it's in there, our way or
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  Speaker 2: the highway, take it or leave it attitude, that.
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  Speaker 4: Now they're not.
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  Speaker 2: So all of a sudden they don't care about Canadian
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  Speaker 2: language or culture and those elements. Well, if they didn't care,
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  Speaker 2: they should have kept them in the deal.
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  Speaker 3: Now, the prime minister was also asked about a development
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  Speaker 3: that we're learning about for the G20 gathering that the U.S.
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  Speaker 3: is organizing. There are reports that Russia's president, Vladimir Putin,
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  Speaker 3: is supposed to be there or may be there. He
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  Speaker 3: hasn't accepted the invitation yet. And Carney says if that happens,
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  Speaker 3: he will make it clear to Putin that he must
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  Speaker 3: end this war in Ukraine and give back the entire
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  Speaker 3: country to Ukrainians.
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  Speaker 1: OK, CBC's Olivia Stefanovich in Ottawa. Thank you, Olivia. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: we wanted to get more analysis on this major announcement today.
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  Speaker 1: So for that, we have invited to the show Francis
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  Speaker 1: Prévost in Montreal. He is the Director of Public Affairs
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  Speaker 1: and Government Relations for Quebec manufacturers and exporters. Francis, thank
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  Speaker 1: you so much for making time for us.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: Let's begin by getting your reaction to the Prime Minister's announcement.
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  Speaker 5: It's great news for our region, for the manufacturers in
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  Speaker 5: Quebec and in Canada. The significance of local procurement for
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  Speaker 5: regional economic growth cannot be understated in this context.
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  Speaker 1: Put the significance of Alstom, the plant where these rail
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  Speaker 1: cars are going to be made, what is this company,
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  Speaker 1: how did they secure this contract?
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  Speaker 5: It's... It's a big company that makes trains for subways,
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  Speaker 5: for VRI also.
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  Speaker 4: They're doing the Vancouver metro cars. They're working with the
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  Speaker 4: Toronto subway as well.
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  Speaker 5: And they have 500 employees in La Paquette-Sartre too. So
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  Speaker 5: they're a major player for the manufacturing sector in Canada
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  Speaker 5: and in Quebec as well.
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  Speaker 1: Have you had a chance to speak to representatives from Alstom?
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  Speaker 1: And if so, what are they saying?
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  Speaker 4: We have spoken in the last few days.
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  Speaker 5: For them, it's great news because they have been hit
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  Speaker 5: by tariffs like most of the manufacturers in the country.
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  Speaker 5: So this is great news for their production in Quebec
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  Speaker 5: and Canada, and especially for the employees that they have there.
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  Speaker 5: So they won't have to slow production, move production, so
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  Speaker 5: they can stay in Canada to.
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  Speaker 4: Make these trains.
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  Speaker 1: In your position, working with manufacturers and exporters in Quebec,
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  Speaker 1: how bad has the trade war been for them? And
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  Speaker 1: I guess my secondary question to that is how much
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  Speaker 1: does this new investment mean?
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  Speaker 5: It's great news for the manufacturing sector. This specific investment
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  Speaker 5: should also create about 700 jobs from what we're hearing
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  Speaker 5: in Ontario and in Quebec. As for the manufacturing sector
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  Speaker 5: in Quebec in general, it's one of the provinces that
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  Speaker 5: has been hit the hardest. across all industries of the
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  Speaker 5: manufacturing sector. So any public procurement, public contracts that is
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  Speaker 5: being sent our way is a welcome news. We've been
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  Speaker 5: advocating for a few months since the beginning of the
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  Speaker 5: tariff force that using public procurement as a lever for
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  Speaker 5: economic development and resiliency of our regions and our manufacturers
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  Speaker 5: is essential. That's what's being done here. So we can
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  Speaker 5: only salute the.
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  Speaker 4: Government for that.
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  Speaker 1: The Prime Minister said this is long overdue, that the manufacturing,
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  Speaker 1: the design, the production, the maintenance is all going to
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  Speaker 1: be done in Canada, that we have the facilities to
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  Speaker 1: do it. I'm sure a lot of Canadians at home
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  Speaker 1: are thinking, well, why didn't we just do this all along?
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  Speaker 1: Why were we buying from the Americans?
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  Speaker 5: Well, the manufacturing chains in North America are very much integrated.
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  Speaker 5: I think now there's a little bit more of an
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  Speaker 5: imperative to make an additional effort to buy Canadian to
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  Speaker 5: build in Canada and in Quebec in this case. So
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  Speaker 5: the government has been advocating for more jobs here, more
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  Speaker 5: manufacturing work here too.
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  Speaker 4: So he's actually doing it now with this contract.
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  Speaker 5: And I think the tariff war has created an imperative
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  Speaker 5: to stay Canadian, buy Canadian, and especially in these strategic
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  Speaker 5: sectors like the trains, like the resources, energy, and he's
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  Speaker 5: doing it now. So we're very happy for the manufacturing
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  Speaker 5: sector here.
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  Speaker 1: Frances, I've heard analysis saying that, yes, this is a
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  Speaker 1: great announcement and a great investment, but it's a drop
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  Speaker 1: in the bucket because of the hit that manufacturing in
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  Speaker 1: Canada is taking because of the ongoing trade war. How
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  Speaker 1: many projects like this would have to be initiated by
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  Speaker 1: the federal government in order to compensate for the loss
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  Speaker 1: from losing U.S. contracts?
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  Speaker 5: As much as possible. This can be a few contracts
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  Speaker 5: here and there. There has to be a policy of
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  Speaker 5: the government to give the most contracts possible to Canadian
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  Speaker 5: and Quebec manufacturers to support the sector. The manufacturers in
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  Speaker 5: the country are on the front line of this tariff.
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  Speaker 5: They need clear support, either by financial means, like the
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  Speaker 5: programs that have been created by the government after the
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  Speaker 5: last wave of tariffs, or by using the public procurement
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  Speaker 5: as much as possible to support the manufacturing sector.
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  Speaker 4: So, to answer your question, as many as possible.
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  Speaker 1: Francis, you've mentioned how integrated the manufacturing sector is across
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  Speaker 1: North America. Have you been speaking with your American colleagues
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  Speaker 1: and how they're reacting to the impact of their industry?
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  Speaker 1: as a result of the trade war?
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  Speaker 5: We did receive some feedback. It's going to affect them
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  Speaker 5: as well. Like you said, it's very integrated. So a
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  Speaker 5: lot of pieces are moving from the U.S. to Canada,
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  Speaker 5: back to the U.S., and vice versa. So both sides
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  Speaker 5: of the borders, the companies are being affected directly.
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  Speaker 4: It's affecting their margins.
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  Speaker 5: The predictability also, so any plan to invest on modernization, productivity,
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  Speaker 5: is being halted right now on both sides of the
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  Speaker 5: border because it's affecting every company that is in this
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  Speaker 5: integrated North American chain. So we have to be mindful
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  Speaker 5: of this, but right now we're focusing on Canadian manufacturers.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, Francis Prevost, thank you so much for your time today.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you very much.