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'Canada may be pulling into recovery but Ontario is not yet out of the recessionary woods.' - CCPA.
Toronto (23 March 2010) - The global recession hit Ontario harder than most provinces, making job creation rather than deficit reduction a top priority required in this week’s provincial budget, says a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Steering Ontario Out of Recession - A plan of action, by CCPA research associate Hugh Mackenzie, says Ontario lost 201,000 permanent jobs last year while only 15,000 new part-time jobs and 20,500 temporary jobs were created to offset those losses.
Compared to the rest of Canada, Mackenzie says Ontario has been hit hard, accounting for 59% of the nation’s permanent job losses last year, including manufacturing job losses that aren’t likely to bounce back.
“Bad jobs are replacing good jobs, which will hamper Ontario’s economic recovery efforts unless the provincial government steps up with a good job creation strategy,” says Mackenzie.
“Meanwhile, Employment Insurance (EI) rolls are still bulging with 251,000 unemployed Ontarians. Many are poised to run out of benefits and are facing bleak job prospects. Canada may be pulling into recovery but Ontario is not yet out of the recessionary woods.”
Among the report’s conclusions:
- Deficit hysteria is unwarranted: Ontario’s deficit will resolve itself once the provincial economy bounces back to its trend line.
- No need for public service cuts: Cutting public sector spending would counteract this year’s stimulus efforts and could push Ontario’s shaky recovery back into recession.
- Asset sales are unwise: The government stands to lose more than it gains by selling off Crown assets that are vital to long-term strategic efforts such as greening Ontario or that are important revenue generators such as the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO).
- Job creation is job one: The province needs to keep the stimulus dollars flowing and support full-time job creation in Ontario’s private sector, including incentives to create new green jobs and revive manufacturing.
- Ontarians need support: The government should support the unemployed by filling the gaps in the federal EI program and investing in more job training. To help parents’ work efforts and support early learning, it should maintain the $63.5 million needed to keep Ontario’s subsidized child care sector from collapsing. And it needs to invest in bolder poverty reduction strategies or risk missing its target of reducing child poverty by 25% by 2013.
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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
More information:
Steering Ontario Out of Recession - A plan of action