OSHAWA—Kyle Pearce is pissed off.

He says the federal government is disappointing, the Provincial government is “appalling,” and his local city council “unforgivable.”

Pearce is one of the thousands of auto workers at the General Motors plant in this city, staring down the end of the line. The manufacturing facility is slated to shut down, first the assembly line for cars on Oct. 31, and then the pickup truck line on Nov. 27. Pearce said his grandfather was a janitor here in the 1980s, and he, himself, has installed mufflers on those trucks for almost five years.

Standing outside the ill-fated plant on Saturday morning, waiting for the New Democratic Party leader to come talk about his plan to lift the auto industry in Canada, Pearce described the “shock” and “fury” in the face of the closure, and said he feels abandoned by all levels of government ahead of the federal election on Oct. 21.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said. “At what point do I start looking at my government and say, ‘Start doing your job!’ ?”

Minutes later, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh strolled out of his party-branded bus to try and answer questions such as this. Speaking in front of a group of party supporters and some GM workers such as Pearce, Singh pledged to revive the $570-million Automative Innovation Fund created by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government and folded into a broader innovation strategy by the Liberals under Justin Trudeau.

Singh would pour $300 million into the fund, but add conditions that would force companies receiving the money to assemble their vehicles in Canada at least, a requirement he said would be implemented immediately and be legally enforceable.

The NDP would also ensure the federal government’s fleet of vehicles are replaced as needed with made-in-Canada models, he said, while the party’s $15-billion plan for climate change includes a promise to upgrade the Liberals’ $5,000 rebates for people who buy zero-emission vehicles. That rebate would be gradually increased to $15,000, but only for zero-emission vehicles that are made in Canada.

While Singh did not say how many jobs his plan would save or create, he took aim at the Conservatives and the Liberals, accusing both of writing “blank cheques” for automotive companies who have shifted manufacturing out of the country even as they received loans from the federal government.

“The cheques were literally blank cheques with absolutely no conditions or repercussions … and we’ve seen the results,” said Singh, who pointed to questions that have been raised about the billions of dollars in bailout money Ottawa gave GM and Chrysler during the 2008-09 recession, as well as federal loans to the companies that the government has forgiven.

“GM literally wrote off billions of dollars in loans as bad debt and is not paying them back to Canada and is shutting down the factory. That should never happen, and, with a New Democratic government, it will never happen,” he said.

In a statement emailed to reporters after his announcement, Sandra Pupatello, the Liberal candidate in Windsor West suggested Singh has no authority when it comes to promoting auto sector jobs in Canada. Pupatello said the NDP’s opposition to the new North American trade agreement would be disastrous for the industry.

“Jagmeet Singh pretends he would stand up for auto workers, yet he opposes the new NAFTA,” she said. “The quickest way to eliminate every single auto job in Canada would be to end our access to the U.S. market by blocking the new NAFTA. That’s what Jagmeet Singh would do.”

Last year, GM announced it was restructuring its operations and would shut down the longstanding plant in Oshawa, a city of 170,000 people east of Toronto.

Aside from the bailout money, the Harper government also created an innovation fund in 2008 that was designed to spur research and development in Canada’s automotive industry.

A 2018 government report examining the now-defunct fund, which was consolidated into the wider private sector innovation fund by the Liberals, concluded there is a “demonstrable need” for a program to promote research and development in the sector.

Singh said he would resurrect this fund with $300 million, but would add conditions so payouts are tied to ensuring jobs stay in Canada.

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After taking questions from reporters, Singh mingled with the group of people who stood with him as he spoke. Pearce, to the side in his leather jacket and dark sunglasses, was asked if he thought Singh’s promises would help.

He shrugged and said, “I think it’s a start.”

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