PJ The Belt - October 05, 2026


Mark Carney has OFFICIALLY LOST Canada

Mentioned
Hamilton Donald Trump Cleveland Cliffs Marvin Ryder Layoffs
Alberta Patriots Just Put CANADA ON NOTICE!!

Episode Stats


Length

8 minutes

Words per minute

173.94

Word count

1,479

Sentence count

98


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Did you know the Canadian resource industry is suffering some of the biggest losses it has experienced in the past 40 years?
00:00:07.160 From steel plants shutting down to mines being forced to close.
00:00:11.460 Now the lumber industry, the latest victim of destructive policies from a woke government that couldn't care less if all blue-collar jobs disappeared tomorrow.
00:00:22.040 Canadian steelmaker Stelco is suspending operations in Hamilton, Ontario, leading to hundreds of indefinite layoffs.
00:00:29.420 So let's hear more on the company from Marvin Ryder, associate professor at McMaster University.
00:00:34.560 It's great to have you join us. Thanks for taking the time.
00:00:37.060 Glad to be with you.
00:00:37.960 So the company is pointing to U.S. tariffs as the primary reason for these layoffs.
00:00:41.820 Do you see that as the main driver behind them as well?
00:00:44.880 Well, I'm going to say yes. Now, can I just give you a quick bit of context here?
00:00:49.140 Stelco and Hamilton used to be a very major employer, but about 10 years ago, it shut down its main blast furnace.
00:00:55.680 So, steelmaking has moved down the road to a place called Nanticoke on Lake Erie, and
00:01:01.000 it is not being affected.
00:01:02.700 It is not being affected by this.
00:01:04.880 In Hamilton, they have what's called a finishing mill.
00:01:07.680 So, the steel is made in Nanticoke, it's shipped up the road, it's coated with zinc,
00:01:12.260 and it's rolled out here in Hamilton.
00:01:14.240 And that product primarily was destined for the United States.
00:01:17.740 In things like the car companies, we know that Trump's tariffs and Trump's uncertainty
00:01:21.700 has affected that industry, so they've seen their sales decline.
00:01:24.840 But here's one other little odd point. Also in Hamilton are something called the coke batteries.
00:01:30.780 This is where you cook coal, remove impurities to then put it in the steelmaking process,
00:01:36.240 and those are not effective. So there are 250 jobs at the coke battery that are still going
00:01:42.680 to continue on. This is strictly limited to the finishing mill operations in Hamilton.
00:01:47.980 And also, I should note, these are indefinite layoffs, but not permanent layoffs.
00:01:53.400 Permanent layoff suggests the company thinks that the sales are gone for good.
00:01:57.420 Indefinite layoff says the situation could reverse itself.
00:02:00.520 We know that Trump's 232 tariffs, these are the ones that are causing the problem.
00:02:04.520 Cleveland Cliffs, who owns Stelco, would probably take the raw steel made in Manicoke,
00:02:11.880 take it across Lake Erie, and finish it in Cleveland.
00:02:15.140 I think it's curious that the owner, Cleveland Cliffs, is a good friend of Donald Trump,
00:02:20.040 And to date, he's been very supportive of all these Trump tariffs that have been levied.
00:02:25.580 He's argued that this is great news for the American steel industry.
00:02:28.840 And what you got left behind is the destruction of small-town Canada.
00:02:33.080 Rural areas are becoming ghost towns as the people are forced to move to the big cities in order to make a living.
00:02:39.820 Is this all a coincidence? Is it just the way life goes?
00:02:43.780 I don't know. You tell me.
00:02:45.460 There's never been anything like it
00:02:50.940 It's a favorite Trump topic
00:02:52.440 Imposed powerful 50% tariffs on all foreign steel
00:02:56.560 Those tariffs now helping lead to one of the biggest steel impacts of the trade war
00:03:01.180 Up to 500 of the 600 workers at Stelco's steel plant in Hamilton will be laid off
00:03:06.440 With the company saying their cold rolled and coated operations are set to be shuttered
00:03:11.100 Layoffs, the United Steelworkers Union argues, breaks an agreement between the federal government and U.S.-based owners Cleveland Cliffs, signed when they bought Stelco in 2024.
00:03:20.420 They agreed to maintain the same employment levels for five years. This news today, they're violating that.
00:03:30.040 The company promising impacted workers new jobs at their Lake Erie facility, but wouldn't say how many jobs would be offered.
00:03:36.500 While U.S. tariffs have played a role in the plant closure,
00:03:39.200 the union argues cheap foreign steel from countries like China
00:03:42.160 have made some Canadian products uncompetitive,
00:03:45.140 despite the Carney government having tariffs designed to block some foreign steel imports.
00:03:49.160 We also hope there's tariffs that will help our industry be more competitive
00:03:53.960 to get our workers back to work.
00:03:57.220 The U.S.-based CEO of Stelco, a longtime Trump supporter,
00:04:00.420 backing his tariff agenda, despite the impacts on Hamilton.
00:04:03.500 If you believe that a supply chain bringing parts of cars across the border with Mexico or Canada seven times and this is efficient, this is not.
00:04:14.420 This is insanity.
00:04:15.900 The next trade war hit set for Tuesday at 12.01am when a billion dollar ban on Canadian motorcycles, some dairy products and alcohol takes effect.
00:04:23.560 With 25% of Oakville, Ontario based Maverick distilleries annual business.
00:04:28.200 We had a great competitive advantage for manufacturing and we're losing that.
00:04:31.440 Just today alone, we've got two tractor trailers are shipping across the border
00:04:34.420 just to try and get them across before that midnight deadline.
00:04:37.880 A deal to end the booze ban coming as soon as three weeks from now,
00:04:40.800 according to the president, promising Canada will come crawling back.
00:04:44.460 They're going to come in and they're going to say, sir, we are sorry.
00:04:49.240 They've treated the United States very, very badly.
00:04:53.100 I think a deal will be made, but it's going to be a fair deal.
00:04:55.600 The industry minister's office told Global News Ottawa was willing to give Stelco money
00:05:00.160 to avoid layoffs and noted Cleveland Cliffs' agreement to their workers saying the federal
00:05:04.640 government will use every lever possible to protect the Canadian steel industry.
00:05:11.440 Is phase two of LNG Canada going to be built with Chinese steel like phase one or will it
00:05:18.160 be built with Canadian steel? It's a great question for the proponents of phase two.
00:05:24.200 They've taken their first investment decision.
00:05:27.300 The process runs for the next five, six years.
00:05:31.580 I'll leave it to them on the precise timing in early 2030s when expected to be operational.
00:05:38.700 There will be full opportunities to buy Canadian steel and we'll continue to invest in the Canadian steel industry to make sure that's the case.
00:05:44.860 But it'll be for them to decide.
00:05:46.660 Let's continue our conversation about those cuts at Stelco.
00:05:49.540 But with me now is the National Director of United Steelworkers, Marty Warren.
00:05:53.760 I think that news from Stokoe yesterday really sent a chill through a lot of people's spine,
00:05:58.820 wondering if this was just the start of something.
00:06:01.280 Let me get straight to it, though.
00:06:02.540 Is Canada at risk of losing its steel industry as we know it?
00:06:06.860 Canada, if we don't make changes, is at risk.
00:06:10.220 Some of the changes that we need to, if you don't mind me,
00:06:13.460 some of the changes we need to do is, first of all,
00:06:15.900 There is the Cannon Investment Act when Cliffs bought us in 2024.
00:06:20.480 What are the conditions of that?
00:06:22.480 What was agreed to by the government in Cliffs?
00:06:25.100 Is there fines? Is there penalties? Is there minimum staffing levels?
00:06:30.100 So first part is we need to find out, get transparent on what was agreed to in 2024 when Cliffs bought us.
00:06:38.640 The second step, if I could, is around protecting our domestic industry from foreign steel.
00:06:44.780 We currently have quotas, TRQs they call them, with our trading partners.
00:06:50.260 But in the products that Stelco makes at 1005, South Korea put a lot of them into our domestic market.
00:06:57.460 Germany puts a lot in our domestic market.
00:07:00.280 And the TRQs are at 75% of what they put in in 2024 into our market.
00:07:06.320 We have to elbows up on that to protect our domestic market.
00:07:10.340 The workers at Stelco, we have to make that 20%.
00:07:14.500 as the next starting point.
00:07:16.640 That will open up some of the domestic market
00:07:18.740 because what these countries are sending into our country
00:07:22.820 is stuff we can produce, stuff that Stelco can produce.
00:07:27.280 And the final point I'll make on the next steps is
00:07:30.260 the U.S. gets exemptions from tariffs on anything related to the auto
00:07:34.980 or the steel in the auto that's coming.
00:07:37.500 There are cars being built in Canada.
00:07:39.880 That coating, that steel could be done by 100.05,
00:07:44.140 by the Hamilton operation.
00:07:45.920 So there is room, there is a possibility
00:07:48.260 to get these folks back to work
00:07:50.180 and protect our domestic steel industry,
00:07:52.940 but it will take action.
00:07:54.080 Okay, let's talk about the major infrastructure projects
00:07:58.040 announced by Canada.
00:07:59.440 Will those help support the Canadian steel industry
00:08:02.900 or are they too far in the future?
00:08:06.280 Yeah, and I think they're too far in the future.
00:08:10.600 Canada's been really very difficult to deal with, actually.
00:08:14.980 Well, they want to have a deal with us.
00:08:16.560 They call us all the time.
00:08:17.620 The problem is that they've treated the United States very unfairly.
00:08:20.940 They have been one of the worst countries in the entire world.
00:08:24.740 And they feel entitled.
00:08:26.060 And, you know, they're not a state.
00:08:27.580 They've been very, very bad to our farmers in particular.