Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty has rejected criticism that his government has done little to protect disappearing manufacturing jobs in Ontario.
"We've lost jobs, no doubt about it, but for every one job we've lost, we've created three," he said Thursday, when he visited a Toyota plant under construction in Woodstock.
There, he told reporters that the province's $70 million investment there will create 2,000 jobs when the plant opens next year.
He said the Liberals have invested more than $1 billion in a "next generation jobs fund" to help create new employment in Ontario.
Earlier in the week, NDP Leader Howard Hampton attacked McGuinty's record on keeping other factory jobs in Ontario.
"We're losing jobs, we're losing industries, we're losing the economic base of whole communities," he said Tuesday. "McGuinty will have to answer for that."
Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory also blamed McGuinty.
"We've lost already in the last couple of years on McGuinty's watch more than 130,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs," he said.
"What we have to do is make sure that Ontario is once again a more attractive place for manufacturing to locate. You know what those issues are. They involve taxation. They involve regulation."
Ian Howcroft, vice-president of the Canadian Manufacturers Association, agreed that the province's factory jobs are vanishing fast, partly due to the rising Canadian dollar and overseas competition.
"We've probably seen 180,000 lost in the past two to three years and that's really concerning," he said adding that manufacturing jobs typically come with good wages, benefits and pensions that might not come with the newly-created jobs cited by McGuinty.
He said the job creation funds and subsidies provided by the Liberal government do play a role in retaining and attracting investment, but taxation and regulatory changes such as those proposed by Tory are what's really needed.
Manufacturers say the government needs to eliminate the province's capital tax, which they blame for killing investment.
Tory has said he will do that, but McGuinty said it's something that can't be done until 2010 at the earliest.
Related
Ontario Votes 2007 »
- McGuinty wins massive majority, Tory loses seat
- Dalton McGuinty won a second majority government for the Liberals in Ontario on Wednesday night, a triumph for a party that earlier expressed fears of a drop to minority status.
- Ontario rejects electoral reform in referendum
- Ontario voters have rejected a proposed electoral reform that would have seen some provincial legislators chosen based on a party's share of the popular vote, results showed Thursday.
- Ontario voter turnout a record low
- The percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in Wednesday's Ontario election hit an all-time low despite changes introduced in an effort to boost turnout.
- Ont. Green party scores 8 per cent of vote
- No Green party candidates made it to the Ontario legislature in Wednesday's election, but that defeat was sweetened by a swell in their share of the popular vote, which more than doubled.
- McGuinty only leader not facing leadership questions
- Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty won re-election in Ottawa South and NDP Leader Howard Hampton again won his northern Ontario riding of Kenora-Rainy River. PC Leader John Tory was defeated.
District Profiles
More Ontario Votes Headlines »
- McGuinty wins massive majority, Tory loses seat
- Dalton McGuinty won a second majority government for the Liberals in Ontario on Wednesday night, a triumph for a party that earlier expressed fears of a drop to minority status.
- Ontario rejects electoral reform in referendum
- Ontario voters have rejected a proposed electoral reform that would have seen some provincial legislators chosen based on a party's share of the popular vote, results showed Thursday.
- Ontario voter turnout a record low
- The percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in Wednesday's Ontario election hit an all-time low despite changes introduced in an effort to boost turnout.
- Ont. Green party scores 8 per cent of vote
- No Green party candidates made it to the Ontario legislature in Wednesday's election, but that defeat was sweetened by a swell in their share of the popular vote, which more than doubled.
- McGuinty only leader not facing leadership questions
- Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty won re-election in Ottawa South and NDP Leader Howard Hampton again won his northern Ontario riding of Kenora-Rainy River. PC Leader John Tory was defeated.
