The former CAW president places the blame for manufacturing's fall squarely on government policy.
“The standard of living of every Canadian depends on us having a strong manufacturing base,” says Buzz Hargrove, fumbling for change to pay for his coffee while struggling to keep his cell phone at his ear.
“The worst thing we could do is continue as if there is no problem,” he barks into the mobile device. “We can’t allow our government to continue to ignore the importance of this sector,” he continued.
The former president of the Canadian Auto Workers Union—and keynote speaker at the Revitalize Manufacturing Conference on November 10—is grooving now.
“We need government leadership. It’s government policy that undermines our ability to continue as a strong manufacturing nation.
“We have to push for more growth in manufacturing jobs. We need to attract more jobs and start rebuilding instead of accepting the status quo.”
The status quo Hargrove is referring to is the total evisceration of Canada’s manufacturing sector.
More than 210,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost since the autumn of 2008. That’s on top of the 355,000 jobs lost in the sector since 2002, which came after scores of plant closures.
The sector’s GDP contribution has dipped from 18 per cent of $921 billion in 2001 to 15 per cent of our current $1.2 trillion.
That’s a major slide for an industry that has seen productivity steadily increasing since the heydays of a 70-cent dollar.
These numbers point to a sector in dire need of a renaissance, and Buzz hopes bringing some key players together at the November 10 event to hammer out some strategies will be enough to get the ball rolling.
Presented at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto, it will bring Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty—a keen industry watcher who briefly held the economic development and trade portfolio along side his duties as premier—and his current Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sandra Pupatello together with industry leaders and manufacturers to devise recovery strategies while making it clear to various levels of government how dire the situation truly is.
“Other jurisdictions, which compete against us for jobs and investment, have recognized the importance of manufacturing and have acted quickly, putting all kinds of incentives in place to attract manufacturers while our governments are saying you are on your own, sink or swim,” says a vexed Hargrove.
“The decline in manufacturing is not inevitable. But if we don’t start reversing this trend now, it’s going to be very difficult to do in a few more years. I’m very worried about it.”
The Revitalize Manufacturing Conference will be a good start to ensuring the government gets the message.
* Courtesy Michael Ouellette, November 04, 2009
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