Windsor-Essex NDP candidates say an auto sector strategy announced Wednesday will draw on local expertise to create good jobs in the region.
NDP candidates Brian Masse (Windsor West), Cheryl Hardcastle (Windsor Tecumseh) and Tracey Ramsey (Essex) say the party is committing to continuing the funding to allow Auto21 to continue on as one of Canada’s pre-eminent automotive research and development institutions.
“Auto21 has generated significant benefits for the Canadian auto sector,” says Masse.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair announced the plan at a campaign stop in Niagara Falls Wednesday.
"All he's proposed is some modest tinkering with some existing pillars of our key strategy," says Essex Conservative incumbent Jeff Watson.
Watson says what the NDP didn't include in the announcement are proposed tax increases that will drive away new investment.
"Mr. Mulcair can propose window dressing, but he does so to hide the fact that he has major tax increases planned for Ford, Chrysler and other automakers, for every auto supplier in the industry and the types of policies that will kill those jobs."
Windsor-Tecumseh Liberal candidate Frank Schiller says one doesn't have to look hard to see results of recent Conservative policies.
"The results of the Conservative program is...plant closures, job losses and relocation of manufacturing facilities outside of our community," he says.
Schiller says the Liberals would fundamentally reboot the government's approach by creating a new strategy, developing a new trade agenda and reviewing how federal loans contribute to the auto sector.
