Legislature passes MPP Arnott’s initiative on manufacturing jobs

MPP Ted Arnott’s resolution that addresses the massive loss of manufacturing jobs in Ontario was debated and passed with support from all three political parties in the Ontario Legislature on November 30th.

Mr. Arnott’s motion calls for an all-party Committee of the Legislature to study the jobs issue as it relates to economic competitiveness and develop a plan of action to protect manufacturing jobs.

“I introduced this Resolution on May 31st, 2005, and I say again that was a year and a half ago. I asked the Legislature to look ahead, recognize what was on the horizon and develop a strategy so that companies large and small could expand their markets, create new jobs, and protect the jobs we had,” Mr. Arnott stated in the House.

He then described the toll of Government inaction in terms of the job losses that have ensued in Ontario. The City of Kitchener part of Waterloo-Wellington has been particularly hard hit. He mentioned Huron Model and Gauge, Lear Canada, ThyssenKrupp Budd Canada, and BF Goodrich, and the hundreds of jobs that have been lost at these plants.

“The most recent Statistics Canada report says that the number of manufacturing jobs continued its downward trend last month. According to Stats Can, so far in 2006, there are 83,000 fewer factory workers across Canada and Ontario has been particularly hard hit,” Mr. Arnott added.

Mr. Arnott reinforced his case by describing some of the work that is being led by Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and Chair of Ontario’s Institute of Competitiveness and Prosperity.

He also advised the House of the support that his resolution received from leading groups including the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, Canada’s Chemical Producers, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the CD Howe Institute, the Employers’ Advocacy Council, and the Ontario Real Estate Association, and the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

“I want to thank MPPs Tim Hudak, Garfield Dunlop, and Julia Munro for speaking in support my initiative, and express my gratitude to the Liberal and NDP Members who voted for it. I intend to continue follow up on this important jobs issue,” he concluded later.