Volkswagen mega-battery factory: here is St. Thomas, the Ontario city that beat the pawn in Quebec

ST. THOMAS, Ontario | “We haven’t stopped smiling since the announcement,” said St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston at the Journal. “Get in my car, I’m going to show you the vastness of the ground that is being prepared for Volkswagen.”

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In town, his citizens call him “Joe”. We skip the last name. Before being mayor of St. Thomas, the man was a Conservative MP, but to the people he remains “the Wendy’s guy”, co-owner of the restaurant on Talbot Street.

As he drives, the mayor proudly points out the site of the area of ​​1400 football pitches. Machinery fells trees. Houses and farms are gutted by bulldozers. Work to level the land is in progress.

“The site was exactly what they were looking for. The federal and the provincial really helped us put our presentation forward,” explains Joe Preston.

When asked if Volkswagen’s battery company, PowerCo SE, will be entitled to a rebate or a municipal tax holiday, he swears not.

“Of course they will pay for it,” he replies.

“There are a lot of other incentives,” he hastens to add, however.

Joe Preston says he is unaware of federal and provincial financial support for the mega-factory, which is due to begin production in 2027.

“Very Powerful Power Lines”

While Quebec had to give up on the multi-billion dollar investment project for lack of the transmission lines, according to the Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy Pierre Fitzgibbon, St Thomas had foreseen the blow.

Recall that after the announcement of the choice of Ontario, Hydro-Quebec had referred to the “aggressive schedule” of the European multinational.

“These enhancements (addition or reconstruction of transmission lines, equipment in our electrical substations, etc.) could not have been carried out in time according to the aggressive schedule of the promoter”, had explained to the Journal Hydro-Quebec spokesperson Maxence Huard-Lefebvre.

Volkswagen wanted a land with an area of ​​1400 football fields, about 700 megawatts, a rapid realization of the project… all criteria that Quebec was unable to meet, according to the state corporation.

Everything nearby

However, in discussion with the mayor of St. Thomas, Joe Preston, we see how far the municipality had taken the lead in the race for the battery factory.

“We have very powerful power lines near the site, just at the coi,” ​​insists the first magistrate during the interview, pointing to them.

“We knew that this site had energy, natural gas and water nearby,” he continues.

Lake Erie Reservoir is a few miles away.

When Joe Preston is asked what kind of energy should power the mega-factory, he replies that Volkswagen got “everything it wanted”.

“My understanding is that it will be like everywhere in Ontario, the vast majority of power will come from nuclear and of course hydro,” he said.

“We had a site ready,” he summarizes.

Automotive supply, clean energy, critical mineral resources, labor… Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development told the Journal in recent days why “Ontario is the ideal destination for battery manufacturers”.

THE SEVEN CRUCIAL MEETINGS BEFORE THE FINAL YES


Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queen's Park shortly before the 2023-2024 budget speech on March 23.  The Ontario parliament was the scene of several meetings between Doug Ford and representatives of Volkswagen.

Photo taken from Facebook, Fordnation

Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queen’s Park shortly before the 2023-2024 budget speech on March 23. The Ontario parliament was the scene of several meetings between Doug Ford and representatives of Volkswagen.

27 avril 2022

1. Meeting with Volkswagen North America Board of Directors (in person in Ontario).

October 14, 2022

2. Trade mission meeting with Volkswagen (in person in Germany).

November 7, 2022

3. Volkswagen is going to Ontario (in person in London, Ontario).

December 13, 2022

4. First meeting of Volkswagen representatives with Ontario Premier Doug Ford (in person at Queen’s Park, Ontario’s parliament, in Toronto).

January 13, 2023

5. Volkswagen representatives return to Ontario for a second meeting with Ford (in person at Queen’s Park).

February 8, 2023

6. Volkswagen returns to Ontario for a third meeting with Ford (in person at Queen’s Park).

February 23, 2023

7. Volkswagen returns to Ontario for a fourth meeting with Premier Doug Ford (in person at Queen’s Park).

Note: There have been consecutive weekly meetings with Volkswagen starting in October 2022.

Source: Investments Ontario

“It’s the investment of the century”


Sean Dyke, CEO of the St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation, and Paul Jenkins, CEO of the St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce, in front of the Jumbo elephant, the emblem of the city which acquired, at the turn of the last century , the status of

Francis Halin’s photo

Sean Dyke, CEO of the St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation, and Paul Jenkins, CEO of the St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce, in front of the Jumbo elephant, the emblem of the city which acquired, at the turn of the last century , the status of “Canada’s railway capital”.

ST. THOMAS, ON | We do not see too many electric cars on the roads of the city which has just obtained one of the largest battery factories in the world. What you see everywhere is Jumbo the elephant, who is the icon of his working-class past.

Because before being a city that beats to the rhythm of automobile mega-factories, St. Thomas was for a long time the nerve center of rail transportation. Difficult to make a few corners without crossing a level crossing.

Halfway between Detroit and Buffalo, St. Thomas quickly became a hub for rail transportation. From the beginning of the XXe century, around 100 trains passed through the city every day, earning it the title of the “railway capital of Canada,” the city mentions on its website.

But more than the wagons, the image that haunts St. Thomas is that of Jumbo, a famous dead circus elephant hit by a train on September 15, 1885.

«Jumbo News»

When The newspaper offers to meet Paul Jenkins, CEO of the St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce, and Sean Dyke, CEO of the St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation, at the foot of the Jumbo tribute statue, we agree, saying that the arrival of Volkswagen is from the “Jumbo News”.

“It is the investment of more than one generation. It’s the investment of the century,” smiles Paul Jenkins, CEO of the St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce, which represents 550 local businesses.

“From the food industry to accommodation, house building, and manufacturing, we’ll say to ourselves: ‘Those were the good times,’” he adds.

Beside him, Sean Dyke, CEO of the St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation, has the same beaming smile. He is still savoring the news.

“We had prepared the ground since 2021,” he says.

“We have electricity near the site. This is why several large battery companies were interested in the location. Hydro One is downright across the street,” he says.

“I think the location plays a big role. We are close to the Canadian and American supply chain”, he underlines.

“We are one hour from the American border and two hours from Detroit,” he concludes.

Neighbors of the future factory fear that it will poison their existence


Diane Dubois and Tom Martin are stunned by the arrival of an industrial juggernaut just a few hundred meters from their family farm.

Francis Halin’s photo

Diane Dubois and Tom Martin are stunned by the arrival of an industrial juggernaut just a few hundred meters from their family farm.

CENTRAL ELGIN, Ontario | “We know nothing about the pollution of water, air, soil, noise and light”, denounces Diane Dubois, who lives on the border of the land of the giant’s future battery mega-factory. German Volkswagen.

“It makes us cry, the rest of us, to see that. Tom was born in the house here. The family has been there since 1933”, regrets Diane Dubois, showing the fields as far as the eye can see which are about to be transformed into a mega-factory.

Devastated bucolic landscapes

During the visit of Journalthe couple was on edge when they saw the destruction of the landscape, in the distance, which approaches dangerously close to their farm.

“These are the best cultivable lands and they want to put a factory,” her husband, Tom Martin, was impatient, oscillating between sadness and anger.

“We have thousands of grade 2 or 3 land, but they come here, on grade 1 land. This can put food security at risk,” he goes so far as to say.

Walking through his fields, Tom Martin shows his precious wetlands that irrigate his soybean and corn crops.

He says he never needed to water the plantations because the water flows naturally from one basin to another when it comes to water his crops.

But since he knows that Volkswagen is coming, he fears running out of water or seeing its quality deteriorate. He could never have imagined such a scenario.

More neighbors, more friends

Au Journal, Diane Dubois and Tom Martin say they fear what awaits them. A multi-billion dollar battery mega-factory of this magnitude will wipe out the landscape for good, they fear.

It is a light-hungry monster, which can get hungry at any time, and stretch all the way to their house, they worry. The destruction of nature that comes with such a project has been making them nervous for a few weeks.

“We took the time to plant 1,000 trees between our woodlots and 2,000 others on the other side. However, we see them tearing further away with bulldozers. It breaks your heart, ”says Diane Dubois, her voice tied.


Tom Martin

Francis Halin’s photo

Tom Martin

“They started by buying 800 acres. The land has been bought”, explains Tom Martin, who did not believe he had to live this nightmare of his life.

One parcel of land at a time, the land grew by swallowing the neighboring farms. Today, his community has soared.

“Our neighborhood is gone. Our friends, our neighbors, they have disappeared,” he sighs.

A law passed quickly

Au JournalDiane Dubois points to Bill 63, adopted in no time by Doug Ford’s government to obtain the land needed for Volkswagen.

In the region, this law passed in fourth gear has made a lot of noise.

Many of Diane and Tom’s neighbors have sold their homes and farms to make room for the European giant, but they can’t talk because they’re tied to concrete confidentiality agreements.

On her kitchen table, Diane Dubois presents a copy of the law.

First Reading: February 22, 2023. Second Reading: February 23, 2023. Third Reading: February 28, 2023. Passing: March 2, 2023 in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

“It was Premier Doug Ford who made that law to give bits of land to St. Thomas so it could attract Volkswagen,” she says.

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