No reason to be complacent just because Honda didn’t flee to U.S.

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This false alarm should raise every alarm bell in every corner of Canada.

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It certainly did from Alliston to Barrie to Toronto to Ottawa.

“My phone was ringing off the hook,” said Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall.

Media reports incorrectly declared Honda was considering moving its 4,200-employee Alliston operation to the United States in response to President Donald Trump’s auto industry tariffs. It looked like an instant crisis for the region.

“Between people who work at the plant, service the plant or make parts for the plant, it would mean as many of 2,600 people in Barrie alone would be affected,” said the mayor.

It was a bad few hours.

When the dust settled, Nuttall, a former Conservative MP, phoned Honda Canada’s president and found out it was a loud foul ball.  Premier Doug Ford also proclaimed Honda was not moving south.

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Honda spokesperson Ken Chiu told the Canadian Press, “We can confirm that our Canadian manufacturing facility in Alliston, Ont., will operate at full capacity for the foreseeable future and no changes are being considered at this time.”

Well, that’s a relief. Or is it?

Nuttall said it is really a wake-up call.

“This is the time to buy Canadian because when you do that, you really help Canadian manufacturing,” he said, adding they are proud to work with Honda and every other international company which produces their products in Canada.

But they know that nothing lasts forever.

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This was a close call – and with the landscape unclear, who knows if something like this will actually happen?

This economic bomb scare also set off Conservative candidates John Brassard, running in Barrie South-Innisfil, and Doug Shipley, running in Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte.

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Together, the two MPs put out a joint statement calling out local Barrie South-Innisfil Liberal candidate John Olthuis for a Feb. 11 X post that they worry offers insight into just what could happen to the jobs in their ridings under another four years of Liberal rule.

Posting to X, Olthuis wrote “part of me thinks we should just partner with China and other nations and give up on manufacturing. I remember when manufacturing shifted to Japan. Originally, they made crap but evolved to be the best. China’s turn, then India.”

What?

It was an odd statement and particularly gross as Canada faces losing hundreds of thousands of jobs.

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“A shift in production to the United States would be a huge blow to our local integrated supply chain and a manufacturing sector that is already reeling from uncertainty,” wrote the MPs.

They accused the Mark Carney-led Liberals of “using the trade war for crass political purposes or gain” and called out Olthuis for his tweet and another one he posted on March 13 which shockingly said, “we should allow Chinese EVs into Canada” if they “set up a dealer network and battery plant in Canada.”

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It’s not a Canada-first policy but one that puts Canada last.

“There should never be a time when any person running for public office is willing to give up and sell out our manufacturing sector and hard-working families by suggesting that Canada give up manufacturing to China or any other country,” said the posting from Shipley and Brassard. “It’s not surprising that Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s hand-picked local Barrie candidate, John Olthuis, would specifically mention China, given the Liberal Party and Carney’s deep connections and worrisome association to the Chinese communist regime.”

Late Tuesday, the Liberal Party sent a statement of regret from Olthuis.

“The comments I made back in February 2025 were regrettable and should have never been made,” he wrote. “I apologize and it won’t happen again. In the face of Trump tariffs, I will always stand up for our auto sector and our workers.”

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It’s good that he did that but the damage was done.

“In Barrie, manufacturing isn’t just part of the economy — it’s part of who we are,” said Nuttall. “Generations of families have built their lives around these jobs, and we will not stand by while anyone dismisses their value.”

He added: “Comments suggesting that Canada should give up on manufacturing are not just misguided — they are disrespectful and unpatriotic. They ignore the grit and commitment of the hard-working people of Barrie and across the country.”

This certainly is a difficult time in which Trump still clings to the concept of Canada becoming the 51st state. It’s good news that fears Honda would move its Alliston plant to the U.S. were unfounded.

So far, at least.

Nuttall described Tuesday’s false alarm as a warning shot, adding we have to be prepared for the day those fears become reality.

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