Hamilton's mayor-elect doesn't trust Cleveland-Cliffs CEO to bring back jobs

This past week saw a new chapter in Ottawa's battle with the U.S.-based Cleveland Cliffs after the CEO admitted he bought the Hamilton Steel Company, Stelco, to stop that company's flood of steel into the U.S. The industry minister threatening escalation if laid-off workers aren't brought back. The message is clear. They had a commitment. They had to keep 100% of the jobs. And they haven't, so they need to. If not, we'll use the full force of the law. All The CEO of Cleveland Cliffs says he is in full compliance with his commitments right, and he is aiming to bring back laid-off workers by Christmas. But it all comes after multiple deadlines and ultimatums from the feds we'll and calls for the company to be sold. I spoke with Hamilton's mayor-elect about the community be right and what comes next in this political battle. Mayor Kenan Loomis. Hello. Good morning, David. back. I want to get straight to Stelco with you. The American owner of Cleveland Cliffs says he will bring back the laid off Hamilton workers by Christmas. Do you believe him? I don't think that there's any reason to. I mean, it's great that they've changed their tune, but until they actually do it and demonstrate that they have good faith in bringing back the Stelco workers, I don't think that there's any reason for us here in Hamilton to believe them. This is a company where the boss says he bought Stelco to keep Canadian Steel out of the American market. Do you think that is someone who should continue to own that Canadian-based company? They, from the very beginning, have exercised bad faith. It appears they were buying Stelco to throttle the competition. And then, you know, that what followed afterwards in terms of advocating against the interests of their Canadian assets and advocating for the tariffs that the Trump administration has levied demonstrate that from the very beginning, they had ill will towards Canada, towards Stelco. And again, there's no reason to believe them or to think at all that they're going to operate in good faith going forward. The question is, what do you do about it? So if I look on the federal level, the NDP want Stelco nationalized. The Conservatives want a lawsuit, among other measures. The Liberals are talking about forcing divestiture. Is there an approach that you prefer? Well, I'm going to follow the lead of Minister Joly and the federal government on that. I've been in touch with them, been in touch with the provincial government as well, the premier. I'm going to do what I can do here locally to rally the community, all of the industry here that relies on steel and all the labor as well. And just to make sure that we're aligned with the federal government and the provincial government. So I don't have much power as mayor. The only thing I can do is that, you know, for prospective owners of... Of Stelco, they know now, or should know now, that Hamilton is open for business in a way they never have been, and we'll roll out the red carpet for somebody who really cares about Stelco and cares about the labourers of 1005. You do bring up an issue. If foreign capital were to come in to support the sale of Stelco for another company to buy it, what would give them the confidence to do that, given that the federal government in this case is talking about forcing the sale? Has, at least in the words of the Cleveland Cliffs CEO, attacked him? Has it sent a negative message when it comes to investors? Well, I don't think it necessarily has to. And we have a lot of operators within the Canadian steel industry that are not Canadian based, but they came here with the intention of making sure that those assets were productive and they continue to invest in those assets as well. I could name off a whole bunch of them. So it doesn't necessarily have to be in Canadian hands. I think, you know, that would give us more assurance. There's a lot of other good actors in the industry. And so I wouldn't just keep it to necessarily Canadian ownership. But in this case, again, we've seen what the American owners in this particular case are doing. And I think we just, you know, it's about what type of approach are you going to bring? What type of language are you using as you seek to, you know? take advantage of those assets and buy Stelco and keep it going. They make incredible product. I mean there's a reason why apparently Cleveland Cliffs bought them so that they could eliminate some of the competition. So it's going to be in good hands I think going forward because we will obviously this whole thing will be under the microscope. Obviously, for Stelco workers, this is a job. If I look at the strategic level for Canada, you were deeply involved with the steel industry before stepping into municipal politics. What is the value of that particular steel plant to Canada's economy? Well, the value is that, you know, to be able to have this capacity to be able to make steel, In Canada, you know, over hundreds of over 100 years, you know, we have built up this capacity. Once it's gone, it's gone forever, you can't get that back. So, you know, it's, it's, it's important to also have competition. So the steel that Stelco makes pretty similar to the steel that its neighbor Dofasco makes. And so that's important to the fabricators that buy that steel to have a little bit competition, as well for that particular product. But, you know, as we talk about the and the prime minister in particular talking about doing big projects and and really being self-reliant when it comes to building our infrastructure, we need companies like this to continue to exist. Lastly, I ask you, because the federal budget is coming up just days from now, what are you hoping to see, particularly when it comes to the steel sector? Well, I want to see supports for the steel industry, but more than anything, you know, as I said, when I was the voice of the fabrication industry, we just want to work. We're not looking for handouts. We're looking for work. And whether it be Stelco, whether it be the folks from National Steel Car that have been on strike for a couple of months, they just want to work. And so the most important thing for me from a federal government perspective is, are we using our taxpayer dollars to support Canadian steel, to support Canadian materials, to support Canadian labor as well? And if we can do that to direct, you know, Whether it be federal funding, provincial or municipal to supporting our domestic economy will be all right. Mayor-elect Keenan Loomis, thank you very much. Thanks David.