Responding to Job Loss and Building for Growth, An Economic Plan That Works for Everyone

Time, Date & Location:
London and District Labour Council
1-380 Adelaide Street North
London, Ontario
Monday, March 16, 2009
11:00 a.m.

Ontario is in the midst of the economic storm, and London is one of the regions hardest hit. The latest job loss numbers from Statistics Canada show that Ontario has lost another 35,000 jobs in February. To move the province out of the recession and into a sustainable future, the Ontario government has to be strategic and aggressive, says the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL).

OFL president Wayne Samuelson will be joined by local labour leaders in London on Monday, March 16, 2009 to release the OFL’s four-point plan for Ontario’s response to the economic crisis. The plan focuses on: government intervention to keep the lights on in struggling industries; targeted infrastructure investments to create new jobs now and build sustainable infrastructure for the future; maintaining vital government services when they are most in need and moving forward on investments in poverty reduction.

According to the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey 83,000 Canadian jobs have been lost in February, 40% of those losses were in Ontario with 35,000 more jobs lost. The unemployment rate of 8.7% is the highest it has been since 1997. The job losses have spread well beyond the manufacturing sector into construction and other support services.

The Ontario government will deliver a new budget on March 26, 2009. It has the power and opportunity to stave off the worst of a recession, build a stronger and more sustainable economy and to provide relief to people that really need help, says the OFL.

“Ontario needs a plan that works for everyone,” says Samuelson.

Speaking at the news conference:

Wayne Samuelson, President, Ontario Federation of Labour
Patti Dalton, President, London & District Labour Council

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