Joly's office says she didn't meet Roshel before Stellantis Brampton deal
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly's office disputes reports Ottawa was actively involved in negotiating Stellantis' sale of its idled Brampton plant to a defence contractor.
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Update — November 12, 2026: Prime Minister Mark Carney called the sale of the Stellantis Brampton plant to Roshel Inc. "unacceptable" on Thursday at a European Political Community meeting in Dublin, saying the company has broken its obligations to laid-off workers and to Canada. Carney said he was aware of "some aspects" of the sale before it was announced but did not say how long he had known or which aspects, and that he is prepared to use available legal and policy tools to enforce Canada's rights regarding the plant's workers.
Stellantis has agreed to sell its idled Brampton, Ont. Assembly plant to Roshel, a Brampton-based defence contractor, and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly's office is disputing reports that Ottawa was actively involved in the deal.
The sale was announced late November 10, with closing expected by the end of this year, subject to government and regulatory conditions. The sale price was not disclosed. The plant stopped operating in 2023, and roughly 2,000 Stellantis workers were laid off. Roshel CEO Roman Shimonov said the company is willing to hire back some of them.
Joly's spokesperson, Mathis Denis, said Wednesday that reporting the minister was involved in the deal is false. "The minister had no part in negotiating with Stellantis or Roshel on the deal," he said. He added: "The minister was in a conflict resolution (role) between Stellantis and the union. That's it. The minister didn't meet Roshel."
Denis said the minister, the department and the team would never have approved a deal that did not honour Stellantis' commitments under the Strategic Response Fund, or that lacked the union's approval. Ottawa committed up to $529 million to Stellantis through that fund. Denis said Ottawa "would use the tools at our disposal" if a sale did not honour that commitment, and that "This is not the outcome we wanted and we have no choice but to find Stellantis in default of their obligation."
CTV News, citing three unnamed sources, reported Ottawa was "actively and intensively part" of the discussions and knew the sale terms. Published reports say the federal government had been aware for months of a possible sale to Roshel and had "engaged regularly" since August.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday the sale violates Stellantis' obligations under several agreements, calling it "a betrayal of the workers" and "unacceptable."
Unifor represents more than 9,000 Canadian Stellantis workers. Stellantis announced in October 2025 it would move production earmarked for Brampton to the United States.
Joly is to meet Thursday in Toronto with Stellantis and Unifor leadership, along with Ontario Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli.
