– NDP Leader Howard Hampton today slammed the McGuinty Liberals’ job re-training program that leaves thousands of laid-off Northern Ontario forestry workers out in the cold.

“The McGuinty Liberals are telling more than 10,000 laid-off workers in Northern Ontario that they don’t count and are not worthy of job retraining,” said Hampton.

During today’s Question Period, Hampton revealed that the government’s much-touted Second Careers re-training program only applies to workers who have been laid off since June 1, 2007. However, a vast majority of job losses in the forest industry occurred before June 1, 2007.

“Workers in communities in like Thunder Bay, Chapleau, Dubreuilville, Nipigon, Red Rock, Smooth Rock Falls, Kenora, Dryden, Ignace, Espanola, Opasatika and Nairn Centre, all lost their jobs before June 1, 2007. Why do the McGuinty Liberals treat these workers like they are second-class workers citizens who aren’t worthy of access to this kind of job retraining?” asked Hampton.

“It is unconsionable that the McGuinty Liberals would come up with a re-training program that basically ignores almost 10,000 laid-off forestry workers. This is just another example of how badly the McGuinty government has bungled the treatment of workers across Ontario who have lost their jobs.”