In Oshawa's Service #4 - The Perfect Storm
Canada's manufacturing sector is facing a crisis of immense proportions. Yesterday's announcements at General Motors regarding the elimination of close to a 1000 jobs at Oshawa's truck plant highlights the pressures facing all manufacturers in our country. I cannot emphasize enough that yesterday's announcement is not just an Oshawa issue; it is an issue for every Canadian.
The reason it is an issue for every Canadian is because our nation's manufacturing industry is essentially the engine that has and must continue to fuel our economy. Regarding the automotive sector, $10 billion of tax revenues are collected by all levels government annually[1]. This sector also procures over $40 billion annually from Canadian suppliers (which is twice the annual amount of the Canadian federal government's annual procurement) and the automotive industry accounts for 12% of Canada's manufacturing GDP and over 20% (or $150 billion) of Canada's yearly merchandise trade.
Anytime an announcement is made in an automotive community (or in any manufacturing community) like yesterday's truck-plant announcement, the Canadian economy, as a whole, shrinks considerably. Once these jobs are gone, they are gone for good (and along with it, Canadian prosperity).
Canadian manufacturers are all facing similar challenges, today and the days ahead, that is causing our manufacturing might to erode before our eyes. A high Canadian dollar, unfair trade policies with competitive nations, an American economy on the brink of recession, and insufficient cross-border infrastructure are all combining to create a perfect storm that will undermine Canada's favorable economic condition unless something is done now to counteract it.
Last Friday, I hosted a meeting of Ontario's "automotive mayors" in Oshawa to discuss issues facing our automotive industry (and by extension the manufacturing sector as a whole). Not one mayor who was present at the meeting was satisfied with the recent squabbling between the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario. It is the desire of these mayors that the bickering stops now. We demand that both the federal government and the province get over themselves and start working together for the betterment of their constituents. We must not shrug our shoulders when it comes to investing into Canada's manufacturing sector because investments such as these pay dividends far beyond the initial price tag. Failure to do so may mean these governments will be scrambling to develop a strategy down the road to replace (or do without) the $10 billion that is collected annually.
I have attached the mayors' joint message from last Friday (April 25th, 2008) for your information.
Yours truly,
John Gray
Mayor
[1] Canadian Automotive Partnership Council, Canadian Automotive Industry Quick Facts, http://www.capcinfo.ca/.
In Oshawa's Service #3
In This Issue of In Oshawa's Service:
- This Mayor Will Be Kept in the Dark!
- Downsizing City Hall
This Mayor Will Be Kept in the Dark...
...for only an hour.
The City of Oshawa is further supporting its environmental efforts and commitment by participating in Earth Hour 2008. Earth Hour is a global initiative sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund to raise awareness about climate change. On March 29, 2008, at 8 p.m. the City is encouraging all residents and businesses to get involved in Earth Hour by turning off non-essential lights and reducing energy use for one hour.
So this Saturday night, be sure to safely light some candles, play some old fashioned board games, or take a nice stroll, but please remember to turn off your lights and resist the urge to consume energy for one hour.
Downsizing City Hall
In case you've never been to Oshawa City Hall (which is actually named the Oshawa Civic Administration Complex), you may surprised to learn it is divided into four parts. The four parts consist of Rundle Tower (the nine story Tower on the south-west corner of King and Centre streets), "A" Wing (the five story building to the south of Rundle Tower), "B" Wing and Council Chambers.
For several years now, A Wing and Council Chambers have been bleeding you in wasted energy costs. With most of the City's staff housed in Rundle Tower, A Wing has been essentially vacant. Only two of the five stories in A Wing are occupied. Unfortunately, the other three floors still needed to be wastefully serviced and heated.
Council Chambers is also an energy-consuming monster.
To save on your tax dollars, Council decided to investigate what to do with A Wing and Council Chambers. We were given three options:
- Do nothing (Over a ten year period, it is estimated to cost $7 million for wasted energy and maintenance. Should there be a major system failure, this cost will escalate accordingly).
- Renovate "A" Wing (and its three vacant floors) for a cost of $15.2 million.
- Demolish "A" Wing, renovate Rundle Tower, and build a new and efficient Council Chambers for $10.8 million.
Obviously we decided on the option 3.
The good news for taxpayers is that the renovations and demolish will not cause a tax increase (the construction costs will be drawn from reserve funds) and will reduce the city energy consumption considerably. It will take two years to complete, beginning this June.
Yours truly,
John Gray
Mayor
