What’s holding our community together for the long run is the public sector – its important work and its role in our local economy.

In this global economic battle of the wits between local Sudbury workers, their union, (the Steelworkers) and a foreign-owned power-house, it is the women workers who are holding the finances of many households together. Many of these women are public sector workers – caregivers and teachers, hospital staff and child welfare workers, social workers and community workers. And many work more than one job, without benefits, without supportive daycare for their kids and without job security; with the threat of funding cuts, job loss, wonky schedules, lost work hours, hovering over their heads and hearts.

How wonderful it would be if this social safety net – this net of good jobs with decent wages and working conditions were solid enough for these women to hold their households together, heads held high, hearts unbroken.

Employment Ontario (MTCU, Government of Ontario) has recently announced funding cuts after a lengthy, and no doubt expensive, process.

The reasoning behind these cuts was to avoid duplication of services, understandable. However, what also was revealed is that organizations that helped marginalized members of our community were not part of this new “mandate.” The only services left standing were those that are meant to help the “GENERAL citizen of Ontario.”

This means that hardworking employment service providers will no longer be around to help the most desparate of job seekers. Jobseekers that possess multiple barriers such as mental health issues, disabilites, former addictions and potential homelessness or women in transition after fleeing abusive situations… were left behind by their own government. These are the people that have typically found it difficult to find employment in the best of labour markets. People in these trying situations will be forced to turn to and rely on social assistance and will have no further specialized services to help them move forward successfully. How is this in any way progressive? These people are going to fall through the proverbial cracks when this Employment Ontario transformation takes place.

How a government cannot take in to consideration ALL citizens of Ontario when making important decisions for Ontario is absolutely disgraceful.

The fact of the matter is that a primary industry resource based economy that we currently have is not a labour intensive industry. It does not take alot of workers to scoop a ton of oil carrying sand out of the earth; so by and large what we are seeing is a jobless recovery based on a skewed way of analysis.

In the period of time since NAFTA started up until the start of the Iraq war, Canadian manufacturing was thriving and provided jobs that allowed for our people to live to a “Canadian” living standard. The manufacturing sector was the single biggest employment sector in Ontario at 23% of all workers. This sector drives other sectors that provide either raw materials (primary sector) or services (tertiary sector).

Unfortunately, the Iraq war changed all this since the cost of the war took its toll on defecits in the USA and resulted in a major weakening in the US dollar. We have seen a 62% reduction in the US dollar since that time which has come directly out of the profits in the Canadian manufacturing sector and has has resulted in many plants closing their doors.

Furthermore, expansion of trade policies based on a “so called” free trade policy with China where goods can be imported into Canada and the USA from China with only very small duties paid has in itself driven jobs not only out of Canada, but also out of the USA. It is estimated that over 2.5 million jobs in the USA have been lost as a result of “The China Syndrome” in the last 5 years. The fundamental flaw in China trade policy is that China is at such a different standard living compared to Canada and the USA, that is a natural outcome that our own standard of living would decline to be competative. China will never be a significant customer of Canada or the USA, just a supplier, similar to Europe not being a significant customer of Canada because Europeans enjoy a much higher living standard (and wage rate) than North Americans do. Can you name any products that you purchased from Europe in the last 5 years? The list is very small!

Unfortunatly with all of these events transpiring, Mr. McGinty has been so ignorant to these issues as to say that many of the manufacturing jobs lost are gone forever because they do not belong in Ontario in the first place. At a wage comparison between China and Ontario at some 60 cents per hour compared to $12 to $20 per hour there is NOTHING that cannot be manufacatured less expensively in China. The Premiers further assertion that industry has not put enough technology and automation in place to remain competative further goes to prove how out of touch he is with the manufacturing sector. The manufacturing sector has and will continue to invest in automation where it makes business sense!

The bottom line is that stimulous approaches to job creation in government budgets are big cost approaches that will only result in minimal effects on employment in an economy that is so dependent on trade with China. For example, stimulous spending in the contruction sector (4% of all of Ontarios workers even in good times) will assist those temporarily employed in construction, but the money they earn will quickly find its way out of Canada and back to China through the goods they purchase. Monies spent on retraining are useless dollars spent if there still is no job available for the retrained person to enter. Retraining does not create jobs, it simply makes one individual more marketable then another SHOULD A JOB OPENING ARISE. Retraining is nothing more then a “feel good” approach because we think someone cares. If the jobs were available, business would pay for retraining themselves if needed. Remember – business will do whatever it takes to remain profitable, or it will shut down.

The fundamental issues that the government needs to resolve in its budgets is to create downward pressure on the Canadian dollar, and to allow the manufacturing sector to be more competative against the China Syndrome.

As far as the dollar is concerned, the Ontario government can in fact create budgets and policies that will drive the dollar down although the general perception by the average Canadian would initially be that it is a bad thing – hence it probably is political suicide – - although it is the right thing for job creation. We need to put policies in place in Ontario that prevents forgein investment in Ontario, and in fact results in forgein investment to leave Ontario meaning that foreign investers will also want to dump the Canadian dollar which will drive it down.
Steps like the recent deal with Samsung to pay a forgein company a premium on electricity compared to domestic producers actualy would create less permanent jobs and results in further upward pressure on the Canadian dollar further affecting he rest of the manufacturing sector. This was one of the most idiotic things done by the McGinty government.

In addition, the Ontario government as part of its ownership in General Motors and Chrysler should mandate that those companies change purchasing policies towards domestic parts producers even if it means a premium price for thse parts. The car buyer will ultimately pay more, but it does go to preserfve the Canadian standard of living.

Most importantly, the Ontario Government as the Government in power where Canada’s manufacturing sector exists must exert pressure on the Federal Government to change trade policies with China to prevent further collapse of Ontario’s manufacturing sector. Significant duties must be introduced on Chineese good (well over 25%) to put Canadian manufacturers back on a level playing field. You cannot compete against free labour, duties must be put in place to offset this. The proper solution to this problem would see this change in duties in both Canada and the USA so as to prevent Chineese goods from entering Canada through the USA. Duties was the reason why Toyota, Honda, and other Japense and Korean automotive manufacters came to North America to build cars and create jobs. It works!

I urge you to think beyond the next fiscal year or election and envision the long term effects of your proposed action plans. Let’s strive for the greater good rather than a one time gain.

Our governments only look as far as their next election or even only to the next fiscal year! People are forced to look only as far as their next paycheque. To paraphrase a First Nations saying – we need to plan today while keeping in mind how it will affect the 7th generation.

On the one hand I commend the McGuinty government for taking initiative in starting to look into encouraging alternative green energy and green job growth in Ontario. On the other hand I’m also hearing the province is looking into cutting jobs to manage their deficit and wasting enormous amount of public dollars in ill-planned projects like e-Health.

We cannot treat symptoms (deficits) alone and think we are solving the problem. Cutting jobs to reduce today’s deficit is hardly the way to ensure we are protecting our most precious resources – our people and our natural heritage – for the long term. Frankly it degrades the very foundation of sustainability.

We need to prioritize health care, education, security. We need to prevent environmental degradation of our remaining intact ecosystems – our air, soil and water. The very basic systems we depend on as a species.

We need to look at our infrastructure, and how we do business, and make sure they are supporting our priorities and minimizing our carbon footprint. Everything is connected.

By doing this we are also ensuring food safety, clean water, rewarding secure jobs and ensuring every Ontarian has the opportunity to reach for their full potential.

And I want to see action to back up the promise of green jobs and the socio-political will to allow sustainable jobs to come into fruition.