Prime Minister Mark Carney was pressed on Wednesday about whether or not his federal government was aware Algoma Steel was planning to lay off nearly 1,000 workers when it was given $400 million in loans from Canadian taxpayers.
In response to questions from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Carney did not explicitly say whether he was informed ahead of time, but suggested Algoma Steel would have had to lay off even more workers without the loan.
“These are difficult times in Sault Ste. Marie and our hearts go to them and their families. As I quote the CEO of Algoma Steel who said ‘it would be an even darker day if this government hadn’t acted,’” said Carney.
“That loan, that support saved two-thirds of those jobs.”
Algoma Steel has been working to shift away from the United States as its main customer after what the company referred to as “unprecedented tariffs” imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Global News has reached out to Algoma Steel for further comment, but did not receive a response as of publication.
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Carney also echoed comments made by Ontario Premier Doug Ford earlier in the day.
“May I quote a conservative leader that is actually in office? The Premier of Ontario. ‘We had a choice. We had a choice: save two-thirds of the jobs or let the company go down. We chose the future. We chose the future for Algoma Steel.’”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford spoke to Global News earlier on Wednesday.
“What the CEO told us [there] would be a dramatic change if we didn’t put [funding] in. It’d be a lot more than a thousand people,” Ford said at Queen’s Park.
Ford referred to Algoma Steel as the “Titanic,” which he said was “sinking up there,” and the government had limited choices to pursue.
“We either save, you know, two-thirds or we don’t save anything,” Ford said. “And I believe in saving the company up there, allocating funds to keep them going.”
When asked whether additional jobs could have been saved if the governments offered a larger loan, Ford referred Global News to Algoma Steel.
The provincial government committed $100 million in funding for Algoma in September to help it transition away from depending on the United States as its main customer.
“This direct support will help Algoma pivot its operations away from U.S. dependent markets and remain a commercially viable and economically stable source of jobs, growth and opportunity in Northern Ontario,” the government said when it made the announcement.
Federal Industry Minister Melanie Joly responded on Dec. 1 to the news from Algoma Steel in the House of Commons.
“Obviously our thoughts are with the workers affected by the unjustified and unjustifiable tariffs imposed by the White House, and we will continue to work with them as Algoma Steel is going through a difficult situation, to say the least,” said Joly.
“We absolutely have every confidence in the Algoma workers, as they’re going through this hardship, and we will make sure that we support them as they’re developing new products and also accessing new markets — we’ll fight for these jobs.”
–with a file from Global’s Colin D’Mello and Isaac Callan.
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