Leadership matters for workers losing manufacturing jobs, says MPP Arnott
In response to reports that Ontario 's economic performance is slipping, MPP Ted Arnott says that the McGuinty Liberal Government's weak economic leadership is costing manufacturing jobs and diminishing hope for workers as the Province's jobless rate climbs.
"Recent editorials in the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star have focused directly on the huge loss of manufacturing jobs, and these highlight the crushing impacts on the rest of the economy including the fact that Ontario 's jobless rate is above the national rate, breaking an historic pattern,” said Mr. Arnott.
"It's going to be very hard for the McGuinty Liberal Government to account for two years of heavy job losses with no significant response. Why did they miss the warning signs? Why did they not understand the economic implications? Why were they simply indifferent?” Mr. Arnott asked. “Any way you look at it, inaction has made matters worse. For more than two years, little to nothing was done to address the challenges, so their avoidance amounts to negligence in the loss of some 160,000 good-paying, Ontario factory jobs,” Mr. Arnott added.
While the issue of major job losses was looming on the horizon, Mr. Arnott consulted with business leaders who wanted to work with the Government to deal with new competitive challenges in the global economy. In the Spring of 2005, he tabled a Private Member's resolution calling for the all-party Finance Committee to hold hearings and provide an action plan on the manufacturing jobs issue.
Mr. Arnott's resolution was passed with support from all three parties in the Legislature last fall, and during its pre-budget deliberations, the Finance Committee also endorsed his initiative. Despite this call to action, the McGuinty Liberal Government did not heed the Legislature's advice, and no hearings were held. Meanwhile, the Federal House of Commons Committee responsible for the issue held hearings and reported early in 2007.
“Ontario 's economy could be doing so much better than it is, and this economic failure shows exactly how leadership matters,” Mr. Arnott concluded.
Further Information: Ted Arnott, MPP 1-800-265-2366 / 519 787-5247 |
