Heads of the country's manufacturing sector said they're frustrated the Canadian government didn't give the ailing industry more prominence in the federal budget.
Speaking to Canada AM Wednesday, industry officials said the money the Conservatives did earmark for the industry is like a drop in a very large bucket.
"Rome is burning and they threw us a glass of water," said Jerry Dias, the national representative of the Canadian Auto Workers union.
"We need concrete money. We need major investment," he said in an interview from Windsor, Ont. "It would have been a message to the auto industry and the manufacturing industry that we're going to be players in the game. They absolutely walked away from it."
In yesterday's budget, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced:
- $250 million for an Automotive Innovation Fund to help the development of greener and more fuel-efficient vehicles
- $1 billion in tax relief for the manufacturing and processing sector by extending the accelerated capital cost allowance (CCA) for three years on a declining basis
Jayson Myers, president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Canada AM the government's actions prove they still need to be convinced the manufacturing sector is an important one.
"The $250 million over five years, that's $50 million a year, that's $10 million per assembler in Canada," he said in an interview from Ottawa. "It doesn't cover the cost of hydro for any of these companies, let alone being a major investment fund for going forward."
The cash-strapped industry will likely continue to cut jobs and shut down plants, Myers said. Already, 350,000 jobs have been slashed.
Ontario's contribution
Dias said the federal government should have matched Ontario's investment of $1 billion into the auto industry instead of putting $10 billion into paying off the national debt.
"It's important to put money towards the debt but not when you're in a crisis," Dias said. "If you've got 10 billion left over, you should be saying where do we need to spend it, how do we assist people, what do we need to do to help people in transition. They're really not doing anything for people."
Dalton McGuinty, Ontario's Liberal premier, had some heated words for the finance minister in the weeks before the budget was revealed.
"The thing that I want them to do is set aside their ideological aversion to working with business to helping business grow. We're beyond that era,'' McGuinty said
He said helping out the manufacturing sector would prove the Conservatives "recognize there's more to the Canadian economy than oil and gas.''
Flaherty defended the budget Wednesday at the Economic Club of Toronto where he was making a speech.
When asked by a reporter if he was on the same page as the Ontario government, Flaherty said he's one step ahead.
"I'm on both pages. I'm on page one and on page two. The government of Ontario is only on page two," Flaherty said.
"Page two is about helping out older workers, helping people adjust in communities, like communities that have one-industry towns, like mills that are closing, that kind of thing. That's very important and Premier McGuinty and I agree on supporting adjustments in those areas and supporting people in communities."
"Page one, though, is getting the fiscal fundamentals right, and that is, you encourage business to grow, you encourage business to invest, and that is including manufacturing," he continued. "And quite frankly, Premier McGuinty misses the boat. He goes to page two, but he skips page one. "
