Toronto, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Ontario Premier Doug Ford not to give any additional corporate welfare payments to Stellantis. Ford suggested this morning at a press conference that the Ontario government is prepared to give additional funds to Stellantis after the automaker threatened to shut down construction of its new Windsor plant.

“Politicians cannot allow themselves to be held hostage by wealthy corporations demanding taxpayer cash,” said CTF Ontario Director Jay Goldberg. “By giving into Stellantis’s demands and giving the company even more money, Ford is not only disrespecting Ontario taxpayers but he’s also setting himself up to be held hostage by other companies in the future.”

Stellantis, the parent company for Chrysler, Jeep and Fiat, has publicly demanded that the federal and provincial governments increase taxpayer subsidies for the construction and operation of its new Windsor plant after the massive $13.5 billion corporate welfare handout the two governments gave Volkswagen.

The Ford and Trudeau government have been at odds about which government should hand more corporate welfare money to Stellantis. Until this morning, Ford had insisted the federal government should be increasing its contribution.

“Ford is making a big mistake by putting more money on the table and this sets a terrible precedent for the future,” said Goldberg. “The Ontario government has already given away $500 million of taxpayer cash to Stellantis, a Fortune 500 company, and not a single additional dollar should be spend subsidizing a multi-billion dollar corporation.”

Stellantis’s global profits last year reached $17.9 billion.