In sobering news for the Ford government, Ontario lost 80,000 jobs in August
By ROBERT BENZIE
Queen's Park Bureau Chief
Fri., Sept. 7, 2018
Ontario lost 80,000 jobs last month — the equivalent of the population of Peterborough — in the province’s worst Statistics Canada monthly employment survey since the 2009 global recession.
In sobering news for rookie Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government, Ontario’s unemployment rate rose to 5.7 per cent, up 0.3 percentage points.
That is still lower than Canada’s national average of 6 per cent and far better than the 8 per cent unemployment rate in the province at the height of the recession.
But last month’s data is the largest loss recorded in Ontario since January 2009 when 95,700 jobs vanished during what was the biggest international financial crisis since the Great Depression.
In a break with tradition at Queen’s Park on the days that Statistics Canada releases monthly job numbers, Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Minister Jim Wilson was not available on Friday.
But in a brief statement, Wilson blamed the grim statistics on the previous Liberal government of former premier Kathleen Wynne. The unemployment rate was lower before the June 7 election.
“The latest job numbers are a reminder of the Wynne Liberals’ 15-year legacy of scandal, waste and mismanagement,” the minister said.
“While the NDP stood by and propped up the Liberals, the PCs stood up for the people and put forward a plan to get Ontario back on track,” he said.
“We will create and protect jobs by sending the message that ‘Ontario is open for business.’”
NDP MPP Catherine Fife (Waterloo) mocked the Tories for promising to install a large sign at the U.S. border declaring the province is “open for business,” saying the new government doesn’t have a plan.
“The neon ‘open for business’ sign on the border is not an economic strategy — in fact, I think it looks somewhat farcical,” said Fife, pointing out that Ford’s cancelling of hundreds of green energy contracts “certainly does not instill confidence for investors.”
“Mr. Ford’s string of shortsighted decisions and backward priorities compromises confidence in our economy and threatens the continued creation of good jobs in the province,” she said.
Fife denied that the previous government’s decision to raise the hourly minimum wage on Jan. 1 to $14 from $11.60 caused the spike in part-time job losses.
While that wage is set to jump to $15 next Jan. 1, the Tories have pledged to stop that.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce, which represents 60,000 businesses, last week appealed to the government to scrap the raise and water down the Liberals’ labour reforms.
Rocco Rossi, the chamber’s president and CEO, on Friday expressed concern about “the biggest employment decline in almost a decade.”
“Today’s news reflects what we have been hearing from our members for months — we need to build an economy that connects workers to jobs and this begins with the immediate repeal of Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act,” said Rossi.
“The Ontario business community has made it clear — Bill 148 has led to a substantial decrease in staff hours and capital investment as well as an increased reliance on automation. This dramatic decline in over 80,000 jobs reflects the work that must be done to build a prosperous and competitive province.”
That act instituted paid, job-protected emergency leave days for all workers, increased holiday benefits, mandated equal pay for casual and part-time workers doing the same job as full-time employees, and increased protections for those at temporary agencies.
“Premier Ford pledged to make Ontario ‘open for business’ by implementing policies that make it easier to invest, start, and grow a business,” he said.
“We strongly encourage the government of Ontario to resolve the unintended but predictable impacts of Bill 148 and work collaboratively with Ontario’s employer community to strengthen business competitiveness and economic prosperity.”
Statistics Canada noted last month’s losses were part-time jobs and offset the previous month’s gains.
“In Ontario, full-time employment held steady compared with the previous month, with year-over-year gains totalling 172,000 (+3 per cent). Part-time employment fell by 80,000 in August, following a similar increase in July,” it said.
That compared to 93,000 part-time jobs lost in the previous 12 months.
Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie
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By ROBERT BENZIE
Queen's Park Bureau Chief
Fri., Sept. 7, 2018
Ontario lost 80,000 jobs last month — the equivalent of the population of Peterborough — in the province’s worst Statistics Canada monthly employment survey since the 2009 global recession.
In sobering news for rookie Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government, Ontario’s unemployment rate rose to 5.7 per cent, up 0.3 percentage points.
That is still lower than Canada’s national average of 6 per cent and far better than the 8 per cent unemployment rate in the province at the height of the recession.
But last month’s data is the largest loss recorded in Ontario since January 2009 when 95,700 jobs vanished during what was the biggest international financial crisis since the Great Depression.
In a break with tradition at Queen’s Park on the days that Statistics Canada releases monthly job numbers, Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Minister Jim Wilson was not available on Friday.
But in a brief statement, Wilson blamed the grim statistics on the previous Liberal government of former premier Kathleen Wynne. The unemployment rate was lower before the June 7 election.
“The latest job numbers are a reminder of the Wynne Liberals’ 15-year legacy of scandal, waste and mismanagement,” the minister said.
“While the NDP stood by and propped up the Liberals, the PCs stood up for the people and put forward a plan to get Ontario back on track,” he said.
“We will create and protect jobs by sending the message that ‘Ontario is open for business.’”
NDP MPP Catherine Fife (Waterloo) mocked the Tories for promising to install a large sign at the U.S. border declaring the province is “open for business,” saying the new government doesn’t have a plan.
“The neon ‘open for business’ sign on the border is not an economic strategy — in fact, I think it looks somewhat farcical,” said Fife, pointing out that Ford’s cancelling of hundreds of green energy contracts “certainly does not instill confidence for investors.”
“Mr. Ford’s string of shortsighted decisions and backward priorities compromises confidence in our economy and threatens the continued creation of good jobs in the province,” she said.
Fife denied that the previous government’s decision to raise the hourly minimum wage on Jan. 1 to $14 from $11.60 caused the spike in part-time job losses.
While that wage is set to jump to $15 next Jan. 1, the Tories have pledged to stop that.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce, which represents 60,000 businesses, last week appealed to the government to scrap the raise and water down the Liberals’ labour reforms.
Rocco Rossi, the chamber’s president and CEO, on Friday expressed concern about “the biggest employment decline in almost a decade.”
“Today’s news reflects what we have been hearing from our members for months — we need to build an economy that connects workers to jobs and this begins with the immediate repeal of Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act,” said Rossi.
“The Ontario business community has made it clear — Bill 148 has led to a substantial decrease in staff hours and capital investment as well as an increased reliance on automation. This dramatic decline in over 80,000 jobs reflects the work that must be done to build a prosperous and competitive province.”
That act instituted paid, job-protected emergency leave days for all workers, increased holiday benefits, mandated equal pay for casual and part-time workers doing the same job as full-time employees, and increased protections for those at temporary agencies.
“Premier Ford pledged to make Ontario ‘open for business’ by implementing policies that make it easier to invest, start, and grow a business,” he said.
“We strongly encourage the government of Ontario to resolve the unintended but predictable impacts of Bill 148 and work collaboratively with Ontario’s employer community to strengthen business competitiveness and economic prosperity.”
Statistics Canada noted last month’s losses were part-time jobs and offset the previous month’s gains.
“In Ontario, full-time employment held steady compared with the previous month, with year-over-year gains totalling 172,000 (+3 per cent). Part-time employment fell by 80,000 in August, following a similar increase in July,” it said.
That compared to 93,000 part-time jobs lost in the previous 12 months.
Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie
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