Joly to Stelco owner: Reverse layoffs within 15 days or face the courts

You can't have your cake and eat it too. Canada's industry minister is doubling down on her threats against the U.S. owner of Stelco after the company announced plans to lay off up to 500 workers at the Hamilton steelmaker. It's a necessary process to force them to comply. In a letter to Cleveland Cliffs, Mélanie Joly accuses the company of violating commitments it made to Canada when it purchased Stelco two years ago. It gives them 15 days to reverse the job cuts, or else the federal government may take legal action. Some employees say that's too much time. I don't have 15 days. My mortgage payments still come out every two weeks. So I don't have 15 days to wait. If Ottawa turns to the courts, they could ask that Cleveland Cliffs be ordered to comply and restore jobs, pay a penalty of up to $10,000 per day or divest itself of control of its Canadian operations. We already know that there are some potential buyers that are interested in buying the Canadian assets of Stelco. But that being said, first and foremost, Cleveland Cliffs has obligation. They need to abide by their undertakings. The Steelworkers Union is hoping this gets settled out of court. We would like to see this go a lot quicker because we know the court will take, it'll take months, if not a year or so. Our members don't have that kind of time. And there are risks for Ottawa as it looks to attract more foreign investment. If the government looks like it's really hard on foreign investors when there's an external circumstance like these 50% tariffs, they have to be careful how that's used. Cleveland Cliffs did not respond to our request for an interview, but previously said cutbacks at Stelco were necessary due to market pressures, despite the company's CEO publicly praising Trump's tariffs. Philippe Demancy, CBC News, Toronto.