MPP
Arnott continues call for public hearings on lost manufacturing
jobs
Waterloo-Wellington
MPP Ted Arnott is continuing to call upon the McGuinty
Government to commence public hearings on the job losses
in Ontario’s manufacturing sector.
Under
Mr. Arnott’s proposal, first raised in the Ontario Legislature
in May 2005, and supported by the Legislature last fall,
the all-party Standing Committee on Finance and Economic
Affairs would immediately conduct this review of the
competitiveness issues which manufacturers are facing.
Ontario has been bleeding factory jobs at an alarming
rate. The McGuinty Government has presided over the
loss of more than 100,000 good paying jobs.
“I
can’t understand why the Government is unwilling to
allow a committee of MPPs from all parties to look into
this problem,” Mr. Arnott stated. “By continuing to
ignore our manufacturing sector, they are wilfully complicit
in the job losses we’ve experienced during the past
year and a half.”
Even
though Provincial hearings have not yet taken place,
the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry,
Science, and Technology recently released a major, 142-page
report with recommendations for Federal action to support
manufacturing jobs. The Committee has been studying
the manufacturing issue since May of 2006.
“The
House of Commons Industry Committee began its work over
eight months ago. If the Provincial Government had wanted
to help, they could have commenced our hearings a year
and a half ago,” Mr. Arnott said. “Surely there are
things that the Government of Ontario can do to send
a signal to manufacturers that we are trying to work
with them and support them. Instead, the Government
is answering with the silence of indifference, even
as many thousands of families are losing their main
source of income.”
Mr.
Arnott is a Member of the Provincial Legislature’s Standing
Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, which recently
wrapped up its pre-budget consultations. On February
1st, he tabled a notice of motion with the Committee
asking that Provincial hearings on the manufacturing
job losses begin as soon as the Provincial Legislature
reconvenes.
“I
intend to continue raising this issue until the Government
agrees to allow this Committee to do meaningful work
on the challenges our manufacturers face,” he concluded.
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