NDP Economic Development & Trade critic Paul Miller said Dalton McGuinty’s so-called auto sector plan is failing working people as Ontario’s manufacturing sector took another hit with the announcement that Ford is cutting another 500 jobs at its assembly plant in Oakville

“With Ontario's economy ending 2008 with zero growth for the year and no real effective jobs strategy, Dalton McGuinty is standing idly by and watching our manufacturing sector crumble. Clearly, the government’s so-called jobs strategy is a dismal failure as witnessed by today’s Ford announcement and recent Deere and Linamar lay-off announcements. How does the Premier explain $100 million in taxpayers money going to Ford’s Oakville facilities and all we’re getting for it is one layoff announcement after another,” said Miller.

Ford confirmed today it will phase out the remainder of a third shift in its Oakville body and paint shops starting next month. Earlier this year, the company indicated it would create another 500 jobs at its final assembly section of the plant to increase output of cross-over utility vehicles but it cancelled that plan earlier this summer.
NDP Leader Howard Hampton has spent the past six months traveling across Ontario promoting the NDP’s manufacturing job creation plan that includes policies such as an industrial hydro rate, the reintroduction of a “Buy Ontario” program, and the creation of a manufacturing tax credit that would be enriched for manufacturers in green technology.

Since 2004, Ontario has lost close to 225,000 manufacturing jobs, including more than 35,000 in the automotive assembly and parts sectors. Communities from Windsor to Dryden have been devastated by the job losses.

“We are in an economic crisis that has been aided by Dalton McGuinty’s poor decisions. While McGuinty sits idle, New Democrats will continue to advance positive economic solutions that will be good for workers, good for businesses and good for Ontario,” said Hampton.