Local leaders looking to curb job loss tide
It's the kind of news that makes Brian McMullan cringe.
Another city manufacturing company halting operations, with 34 jobs lost.
"You hate to see that happen," the St. Catharines mayor said Friday night, after hearing Electropac Canada Inc. in Port Weller had stopped production.
"It's certainly not the sort of news you like to hear as mayor."
He's had to hear it a lot recently.
In the past year, close to 400 manufacturing jobs in Thorold and St. Catharines have melted away.
It's a problem, one requiring the co-operation of all levels of government to fight, McMullan said.
But he said residents should know the fight is on.
"There's not a day that goes by, literally, that I don't talk to someone about what we can do," the mayor said.
"And things are being done."
McMullan pointed to recent good news: the announcement that the old Bazaar and Novelty building on Ridley Road is now home to five new or expanding businesses, adding 140 new industrial jobs.
Local video gaming company Silicon Knights is also constantly expanding, he noted. The company is part of a consortium of local leaders called nGen - short for Niagara INteractive Media Generator - which received $245,000 from the province this week to kick-start a so-called new media incubator.
The group has planned a press conference for Jan. 28 to talk about the effort.
In terms of traditional manufacturing, the city is launching a "made in St. Catharines" campaign to try to attract industry to the city. It's also joined the Niagara Development Corridor Partnership to promote the region as the destination of choice for advanced material manufacturing.
A trade show is scheduled Feb. 14 to give regional manufacturers the chance to market their products and services.
The best news, however, could still come from the city's reigning manufacturing giant, in the form of a new transmission line at General Motors.
"We're working hard, all three levels of government, to make that a reality," McMullan said.
He said he expects a decision from GM's board of governors this year on the potential project.
"We're talking about a $400-million investment," he said. "Believe me, if it doesn't happen, it won't be for lack of effort on our part."
McMullan visited GM's powertrain plant on Glendale Avenue Thursday with Regional Chairman Peter Partington, St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley and St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra to discuss how government can help Canadian manufacturing.
"We talked about opportunities, but that's all I can say at this point," McMullan said.
The biggest challenges, such as the high dollar and cheap offshore competition, require provincial and federal intervention, he said.
Provincial premiers met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper Friday night to discuss those problems and ask for federal aid.
Harper pre-empted the request with the announcement Thursday of a $1-billion aid package for manufacturing and forestry communities across Canada.
That's a step in the right direction, Bradley said, but "significantly short of what is required."
Bradley said the federal government should use its "significant surplus" to provide short-term relief for manufacturers "who may be hanging on by their fingernails."
Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory said Friday in a release that "Ontario's economy is trailing the rest of the country because we have a premier who prefers to blame the federal government."
But Bradley argued the provincial government is doing its part. He listed examples of a $650-million fund to develop green industrial technologies and $1.1 billion in tax-relief measures announced in the last economic statement.
Also, former provincial Liberal cabinet minister David Ramsay has been named parliamentary assistant to the premier and will review the challenges faced by small- and medium-sized manufacturers.
Stats Canada job report
Jobs in, jobs out
Canada shed 18,700 jobs in December after seven months of rising employment.
For all of 2007, the number of jobs in Canada grew by 370,000, or 2.2 per cent.
Ontario lost 15,800 jobs overall in December.
Ontario lost 64,000 manufacturing jobs in 2007.
St. Catharines-Thorold manufacturing sector 2007-2008:
Five new or expanding manufacturers have moved into a new business park at the old Bazaar and Novelty building in St. Catharines, promising 140 new jobs as a result.
Foster Wheeler closed in Niagara-on-the-Lake, resulting in 60 layoffs.
Auto-parts maker Dana Canada closed its last plant in Thorold, putting 185 people out of work.
Cornelius Pools in St. Catharines went bankrupt, eliminating 70 jobs.
The landmark Canada Hair Cloth plant in downtown St. Catharines closed, ending 42 jobs.
