Minister Freeland Visit 2018

On Tuesday, October 23, 2018, the Honorable Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, came to visit AGS’s Oshawa plant.

Minister Freeland was the federal government minister responsible for the successful negotiation of the USMCA, Canada’s new trade agreement with the US and Mexico, which was agreed to on September 30, 2018.

Minister Freeland’s visit was prompted by her desire to hear from some of the people directly impacted by the successful conclusion of the USMCA and she chose the AGS Oshawa plant to do that.

During her tour of the Oshawa plant, Minister Freeland stopped and spoke to a dozen or more AGS employees on the shop floor, several of whom expressed their gratitude to the Minister for the successful negotiation of the USMCA. This thanks was echoed by Joe Leon and Joe Loparco, Co-Presidents of AGS, when they introduced the Minister before she made some remarks on the plant floor.

In her remarks, the Minister made heartfelt comments that she was very glad to hear from so many AGS employees that they understood and were grateful for her hard work and that of the Canadian negotiating team in managing to avert a trade crisis with the US and Mexico, which has a profoundly positive effect on both AGS and its team members.