STATEMENT BY ONTARIO MAYORS FOR AUTOMOTIVE INVESTMENT ON AUTO SECTOR CRISIS Mayors call for urgent and bold action from governments (TORONTO, Nov. 21, 2008) The Ontario Mayors for Automotive Investment (OMAI) released the following statement following a meeting in Toronto today to discuss the crisis hitting Canada’s auto sector. “The time is now for immediate and bold action to deal with the crisis hitting Canada’s automotive sector. If it is not addressed quickly and decisively as part of a coordinated Canada/U.S. strategy to save the sector, it is not just thousands of jobs that will be lost but dozens of communities across Ontario that will face economic devastation.
For more than half a century, the auto sector has been the backbone of Ontario’s industrial heartland. Communities have developed and grown around the auto industry. Families, hard-working men and women, settled in this corner of our country because of the promise of steady jobs and a bright future for their children. Never has that future been as much in doubt as it is today. The Prime Minister must signal immediately to the outgoing and the incoming U.S. administration that finding a concerted, long-term solution to this crisis is a clear priority and will be viewed as a test of the strength and nature of our bilateral relationship. And he must ensure that U.S. efforts to bolster U.S. auto production do not come at the expense of Canadian operations. Every automotive job we lose will cost seven other jobs. For our communities and our residents, this is not a theoretical debate over economic or industrial policy - the issue is one of survival. The collapse of the auto sector would lead to massive job loss and dislocation. Its human costs are staggering as would be its impact on every aspect of municipal operations. The tax base on which our capacity as municipal governments to provide the services necessary for viable, dynamic and prosperous communities rests, would collapse, while our costs would skyrocket. This must not happen. The credit crisis that has staggered the auto sector has the potential to decimate our communities; the federal and provincial governments must act quickly with their U.S. partners to provide the necessary financial tools to address this crisis. As mayors we see the effects of this crisis in our communities every day. We expect to be at the table to give voice to the concerns of our residents who are now facing uncertainty in these very troubled times.”
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