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NDP Leader Avi Lewis slammed the Liberal government for the sale of Hamilton-based Canadian steelmaker Stelco to American company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. approved in 2024.
His statement came after Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said on CBC’s Power & Politics that he only bought Stelco to eliminate a Canadian competitor.
“I bought Stelco because I could no longer afford to have Stelco flood the market here in the United States to the detriment of my own company,” Goncalves said, explaining that Stelco had undercut his company’s prices in the United States.
Earlier this fall, Stelco issued layoff notices to 500 of its employees.
Marty Warren, national director of United Steelworkers (USW) Canada, which represents employees at Stelco, accused Goncalves of breaking commitments he made when his company bought Stelco.
“He vowed to maintain employment levels at 2024 levels, but lay off up to 500 workers,” Warren said in a media release. “He pledged to expand shipments of Stelco products, but admitted to investors that he was buying a competitor to keep it out of the U.S. market.”
Lewis said Goncalves’ statement was evidence of deliberate sabotage of a key Canadian industry.
“The American CEO who bought Stelco openly admits he bought the company to sabotage it,” Lewis said in a statement to X.com.
“This is why the Liberals should never have approved the sale of Stelco in the first place. When you give away ownership of a critical industry like steel, your economy is forever under someone else’s thumb,” Lewis said.
Lewis went on to repeat his calls for the Liberal government to nationalize Stelco.
Nationalization of a critical industry
“There is only one solution that will save these jobs and put Canada back in the driver’s seat: we must nationalize Stelco,” Lewis wrote.
This is not the first time that Lewis has called on the government to nationalize Stelco. He first called for nationalization on October 13, days after the 500 workers at the Stelco Hamilton facility received their layoff notices.
“If we are serious about saving these jobs and the Canadian steel industry, we need immediate action. That action must include the nationalization of the plant,” Lewis said. “You are not saving Canada by letting American investors dismantle steel production in this country piece by piece. It is time for the Liberal government to take back control of our industry by nationalizing Stelco,” Lewis’ statement continued.
In a statement to rabble.ca The USW said that under the right circumstances it would support nationalization:
“Our position is that these jobs and our critical manufacturing capacity must be protected, and that the commitments that Cleveland-Cliffs made to Canadians and its workers when they bought the company must be kept. We are not willing to protect and defend steelworkers and our critical manufacturing capacity.
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