Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this exciting announcement. This is a historic day with the largest auto investment in Canada's history.

(Applause)

Premier Ford, Doug, it's always great to see you again, along with Ministers Fedeli and Bethlenfalvy. I'm happy to be joined by Ministers Freeland, Champagne and Tassi, as well as MPs from our auto caucus, including Francesco, Maninder, Shafqat, Ryan, Tony, James and Majid. It's also good to see so many other partners and friends, the Ambassador of Japan to Canada, Kanji Yamanouchi, the Ambassador of Canada to Japan, Ian McKay, the Mayor of New Tecumseth, Richard Norcross, the Warden of Simcoe County, Basil Clarke, and Deputy Mayors and Councillors, and everyone who has come together to recognize that this is a very big day for the region, for the province, and for the country.

There's a lot of people here today because we don't get to announce good news like this every day. So, thank you all for being here, all together. But I want to start…

(Applause)

I want to really start with a huge round of applause to all the auto workers here today. Thank you all.

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Without your work… your qualities, your ambition, your talents, none of this would be possible.

You know, over the past number of years, when I speak with CEOs like Mibe-san and Jean Marc from all around the world, I do point out, “Look, Canada has great natural resources. We have clean energy; we take climate action seriously. We have great access to markets through our more free trade deals than any of our partner countries. We have stable democratic institutions and strong, vibrant communities.” Those are all part of the advantages of Canada. But the central part of my pitch, the biggest advantage that Canada has in drawing investments from all around the world are Canadian workers who are the best in the world. Thank you for making our job of bringing in investment so much easier.

(Applause)

Because today Honda is making Canadian automotive history. With this announcement, we will be investing to create Canada's first comprehensive electric vehicle supply chain from start to finish.

Today, we are announcing that Honda will be investing to create the first comprehensive electric vehicle supply chain in Canada.

A whole ecosystem will be built with four new manufacturing plants in Ontario, including an EV assembly plant, a standalone battery manufacturing plant, and two plants for battery components. These investments will create well over a thousand well-paying manufacturing jobs, as well as many, many construction jobs and of course, jobs all across Ontario and the country for auto parts suppliers. But this announcement isn't just about creating jobs. It's about securing good jobs and careers for the coming decades, and even the coming generations.

Big companies like Honda recognize Canada’s potential.

Mibe-san said it earlier, Honda has set a goal to make EVs represent 100% of vehicle sales by 2040. In Canada, our target is that 100% of all light-duty cars and passenger truck sales be zero emission by 2035. As a great Canadian once said, “That is where the puck is going and that is where we're going to be.” Our government gets it, and the workers and communities across the country seeing these jobs for the future, places like Alliston, Bridgewater, Windsor, Brampton, St. Thomas, Ingersoll, Fort Saskatchewan, Bécancour, McMasterville, Saint-Basile-le-Grand, Maple Ridge, they get it too. We're building the careers of the future. Our economic policies, including our climate policies, are attracting global investors.

Our economic policies, including our climate policies, attract investors from all over the world.

And that underlines what we've always said, climate policy is economic policy. And with its impact on families and communities around here, it's also social policy. See, we've been building a whole ecosystem. Because of the choices our government has made over the past few years, Canada now ranks first globally in Bloomberg's ranking of lithium-ion battery supply chains.

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Last year, Canada attracted the highest per capita foreign direct investment in the G7 and the third most foreign direct investment in the world after the U.S. and Brazil. What we are doing here matters to the world and it matters to Canadians.

Canada is recognized as the provider of clean solutions needed for a carbon-neutral global economy, and we'll continue our work to create even more jobs that will keep our economy strong for generations to come.

Today is a great day for workers, for Honda, for Ontario, and it's a great day for Canada. So, thank you all. Thank you everyone. (Speaks in foreign language.)