Business
Chief Clarence Louie and author Matt Tenney featured at Workforce Strategies Summit March 30 in Red Deer

News Release submitted by the Central Alberta Economic Partnership (CAEP)
Prominent Speakers Keynote Workforce Strategies Summit
Two top caliber speakers will keynote the Workforce Strategies one-day summit in Red Deer March 30th. In the morning, social entrepreneur and “Serve to be Great” and “The Mindfulness Edge” author, Matt Tenney will share his leadership development and business success strategies. Tenney is a US-based consultant and trainer with the prestigious Perth Leadership Institute. His clients include Wells Fargo, Marriott, Keller Williams, Salesforce, United Airlines, and many other companies, associations, and universities.
In the afternoon, Canadian Speakers Bureau 5-star Indigenous inclusion, First Nation leadership and economic development expert keynote speaker, Chief Clarence Louie will share his experiences, lessons learned and business-smarts approach. Chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band for over 36 years, Chief Louie is one of six First Nations leaders to emphasize economic development to improve people’s standard of living. Under his direction, the Band has become a multi-faceted corporation that owns and manages nine businesses and employs hundreds of people.
Completing the plenary sessions will be two panels of expert speakers on “Embracing the New Workforce” including topics on diversity, GenZ, and immigration, and “Automation and Technology to Fill the People Gap“. The panelists include: Steve Miller, Implicit Career Search; Andrea Cassidy, Beyond Insurance; Nicole Arienzale, Fortis Alberta; Tonya Woolford, Xerox; Tom Muir, Poeta Digital; Jason Thompson, Warrior Supplies; and Dr. Joy Agnew, Olds College Centre for Innovation. The panels will be moderated by Stuart Cullum President Red Deer Polytechnic and Donna Purcell lawyer and owner of Donna Purcell QC Law.
Summit attendees can also attend private meetings with international recruitment agencies, lawyers, business consultants, and human resources professionals to discuss strategies specific to their organization’s needs. Employers of all types including non-profit organizations and cooperatives are invited to attend to learn more about attracting and retaining staff for their specific sector needs.
Tickets are available through Eventbrite or from the CentralSummit.ca website until March 24. Lunch is included.
Workforce Strategies Summit is hosted by the Central Alberta Economic Partnership (CAEP) to help employers of all sizes gain insight and learn strategies for recruiting, hiring, and retaining employees. It is being held March 30, 2023 at Westerner Park in Red Deer.
Recruitment and retention related businesses including such as BusinessLink, Labour Solutions Canada, BLHR Consulting, C4ner Consulting, Golden Circle Senior Resource Centre, Camrose County, EPSS, Red Deer Polytechnic, Donna Purcell Law, Immigration Care, Digitex / Xerox, CRT Legal will be available for conversations in the business-to-business B2B Lounge.
Workforce Strategies Summit is made possible through the generous sponsorship of Community Futures Central Alberta, Olds College, Red Deer Polytech, Central Alberta Regional Innovation Network, Red Deer Chamber, Burman University, Fortis Alberta, and Canadian Immigration Visa Services. Donna Purcell QC Law, Pinnacle Communications & Media inc, Waste Connections Canada, Digital.ca / Xerox and JEDI.
Automotive
Auto giant shuts down foreign plants as Trump moves to protect U.S. industry

MxM News
Quick Hit:
Stellantis is pausing vehicle production at two North American facilities—one in Canada and another in Mexico—following President Donald Trump’s announcement of 25% tariffs on foreign-made cars. The move marks one of the first corporate responses to the administration’s push to bring back American manufacturing.
Key Details:
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In an email to workers Thursday, Stellantis North America chief Antonio Filosa directly tied the production pause to the new tariffs, writing that the company is “continuing to assess the medium- and long-term effects” but is “temporarily pausing production” at select assembly plants outside the U.S.
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Production at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario will be paused for two weeks, while the Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico will be offline for the entire month of April.
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These plants produce the Chrysler Pacifica minivan, the new Dodge Charger Daytona EV, the Jeep Compass SUV, and the Jeep Wagoneer S EV.
Diving Deeper:
On Wednesday afternoon in the White House Rose Garden, President Trump announced sweeping new tariffs aimed at revitalizing America’s auto manufacturing industry. The 25% tariffs on all imported cars are part of a broader “reciprocal tariffs” strategy, which Trump described as ending decades of globalist trade policies that hollowed out U.S. industry.
Just a day later, Stellantis became the first major automaker to act on the new policy, halting production at two of its international plants. According to an internal email obtained by CNBC, Stellantis North American COO Antonio Filosa said the company is “taking immediate actions” to respond to the tariff policy while continuing to evaluate the broader impact.
“These actions will impact some employees at several of our U.S. powertrain and stamping facilities that support those operations,” Filosa wrote.
The Windsor, Ontario plant, which builds the Chrysler Pacifica and the newly introduced Dodge Charger Daytona EV, will shut down for two weeks. The Toluca facility in Mexico, responsible for the Jeep Compass and Jeep Wagoneer S EV, will suspend operations for the entire month of April.
The move comes as Stellantis continues to face scrutiny for its reliance on low-wage labor in foreign markets. As reported by Breitbart News, the company has spent years shifting production and engineering jobs to countries like Brazil, India, Morocco, and Mexico—often at the expense of American workers. Last year alone, Stellantis cut around 400 U.S.-based engineering positions while ramping up operations overseas.
Meanwhile, General Motors appears to be responding differently. According to Reuters, GM told employees in a webcast Thursday that it will increase production of light-duty trucks at its Fort Wayne, Indiana plant—where it builds the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. These models are also assembled in Mexico and Canada, but GM’s decision suggests a shift in production to the U.S. could be underway in light of the tariffs.
As Trump’s trade reset takes effect, more automakers are expected to recalibrate their production strategies—potentially signaling a long-awaited shift away from offshoring and toward rebuilding American industry.
Business
‘Time To Make The Patient Better’: JD Vance Says ‘Big Transition’ Coming To American Economic Policy

JD Vance on “Rob Schmitt Tonight” discussing tariff results
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Hailey Gomez
Vice President JD Vance said Thursday on Newsmax that he believes Americans will “reap the benefits” of the economy as the Trump administration makes a “big transition” on tariffs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,679.39 points on Thursday, just a day after President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs against nations charging imports from the U.S. On “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” Schmitt asked Vance about the stock market hit, asking how the White House felt about the “Liberation Day” move.
“We’re feeling good. Look, I frankly thought in some ways it could be worse in the markets, because this is a big transition. You saw what the President said earlier today. It’s like a patient who was very sick,” Vance said. “We did the operation, and now it’s time to make the patient better. That’s exactly what we’re doing. We have to remember that for 40 years, we’ve been doing this for 40 years.”
“American economic policy has rewarded people who ship jobs overseas. It’s taxed our workers. It’s made our supply chains more brittle, and it’s made our country less prosperous, less free and less secure,” Vance added.
Vance recalled that one of his children had been sick and needed antibiotics that were not made in the United States. The Vice President called it a “ridiculous thing” that some medicines invented in the country are no longer manufactured domestically.
“That’s fundamentally what this is about. The national security of manufacturing and making the things that we need, from steel to pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, and so forth, but also the good jobs that come along when you have economic policies that reward investing in America, rather than investing in foreign countries,” Vance said.
WATCH:
With a baseline 10% tariff placed on an estimated 60 countries, higher tariffs were applied to nations like China and Israel. For example, China, which has a 67% tariff on U.S. goods, will now face a 34% tariff from the U.S., while Israel, which has a 33% tariff, will face a 17% U.S. tariff.
“One bad day in the stock market, compared to what President Trump said earlier today, and I think he’s right about this. We’re going to have a booming stock market for a long time because we’re reinvesting in the United States of America. More importantly than that, of course, the people in Wall Street have done well,” Vance said.
“We want them to do well. But we care the most about American workers and about American small businesses, and they’re the ones who are really going to benefit from these policies,” Vance said.
The number of factories in the U.S., Vance said, has declined, adding that “millions of workers” have lost their jobs.
“My town [Middletown, Ohio], where you had 10,000 great American steel workers, and my town was one of the lucky ones, now probably has 1,500 steel workers in that factory because you had economic policies that rewarded shipping our jobs to China instead of investing in American workers,” Vance said. “President Trump ran on changing it. He promised he would change it, and now he has. I think Americans are going to reap the benefits.”
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